The Awesome Companion
by Silver-WhiteKyurem
Summary: After WW2, Prussia awaits the decision that will change his fate forever. However, when a strange man calling himself the Doctor stumbles into his life, he learns that the decision is all his own. The Doctor whisks the counfused, drunken country off in his TARDIS to write his own awesome history in the stars.
1. Run

**The Awesome Companion**

**Chapter One**

**Run**

If there was one thing that Prussia hadn't expected, it was this. He had been harboring feelings of anxiety ever since this war had started, but had kept his mouth shut (for once). And now he regretted everything. World War One had been a terrible enough time, but nothing could prepare him or his younger brother, Germany, for the horrors they would be forced to endorse during World War Two. Why hadn't they listened to their guts and gotten a new boss while they still had the chance?

The silver-haired man sighed and took a deep swig from his mug of beer, letting his vibrant crimson eyes glaze over as he tried in vain to drown his pain in the alcohol. There was nothing that could make the things he had seen and done hurt less. He still felt as if the blood of those millions of people was staining his hands, even though he had never directly hurt any of them. Their cries still rang in his ears, a permanent reminder of the crimes of his government. All he could do now was wait. Wait until the Allies passed their judgment on his broken home.

If there was one thing Prussia was certain of after the end of the terrible war, it was that his time as a country was nearing its end. He had heard the grumblings of the Allied nations. They thought he was a has-been, a washed-up warrior with no more fight in his blood. He was going to become a part of Germany soon, and it made his blood boil with rage. How dare they think he was done! He was the awesome Prussia, and there wasn't a damned thing any of those lame-arse countries could do to stop him from proving it! At least, that's what he had told himself.

However, he was beginning to notice that other nations were starting to treat him differently. They often ignored him, which, being the narcissistic attention-seeker he was, the man hated. When they did pay attention to him, it was with looks of disdain and irritation on their faces. Sometimes they didn't even seem to see him at all, which pissed him off most of all.

"Kese! How dare zey ignore me! I am ze AWESOME Prussia, und demand to be treated as such!" he sneered, slamming his empty beer mug on the bar and stumbling out of the pub.

Prussia shuddered in cold as he stepped out into the chilly night air, jamming his hands into his pockets and drawing his dark blue jacket closer to him. His breath gathered in a soft cloud around his face as he sighed ans started down the street, whistling to himself and trying to walk strait. The night was fairly quiet, and there weren't many people out: in other words, it was the kind of night Prussia hated.

"Mein Gott, it's so quiet! How frustrating!" he grumbled to himself, stopping and leaning against the window of a large department store.

Prussia sighed again and turned to lean his forehead against the window and stare languidly inside. There were racks of bright Springtime clothes, and several mannequins posed in ridiculous positions. There was way too much rushing through the country's head for him to think properly right now, and the fact that his blood was 90-proof from all of the beer he had consumed over the past few nights wasn't helping. In fact, the alcohol was messing with his mind so much, Prussia could swear that the creepy mannequins inside had started moving rigidly toward the window.

"Kesese! I must have had too much if ze mannequins look like zey are valking tovard me!" he chuckled to himself.

"No, they really _are _walking toward you." a voice with a British accent said from behind him.

Prussia spun around to see a man wearing a dark blue suit and a long brown coat looking at him with curious brown eyes. His thick brown hair was spiky and stuck up at odd angles, and he was ridiculously thin. Prussia chuckled at him with his signature laugh.

"You must be as drunk as I am." he commented, giving the stranger an amused look.

"Nope. Look again." the man gestured toward the window, and Prussia turned to look at it again.

Prussia jumped and gave a shout of surprise as he saw that the mannequins were only a few feet from the window, and steadily approaching with jerky movements.

"Now, I suggest we run!" the strange man tugged at Prussia's sleeve and took off down the street.

Prussia cast the figures one final confused look before stumbling after him, doing his best not to fall on his face as he ran. He heard a loud crash from behind him, followed by screams from the few people who were out, and could only assume that the mannequins had broken through the glass. He was surprised to hear a bitterly familiar sound coming from the same area: gunshots.

"Vhat ze hell is going on?" he yelled at the strange man he was following.

"Long story short: those mannequins have been brought to life with alien technology and are shooting at the people who were back there!" the man called back at him, looking around for a safe place to stop.

"Okay, now I _know _you're as drunk as I am!" Prussia snorted back, stopping when the man stopped beside a run-down apartment building.

The man looked at Prussia curiously, tilting his head to one side.

"Who are you?" he asked, panting slightly.

"I am ze awesome Prussia! Vho are you?" Prussia replied, leaning against a wall and trying to catch his breath.

"I'm the Doctor."

"Ze Doctor? Doctor Vho?"

"Just the Doctor. Now, I know this is sudden, and you're obviously very drunk. But I need your help. I have to stop those mannequins from destroying the city, so I need to find where the signal that is controlling them is being broadcast from. Any ideas?"

"You're asking a drunk, washed-up country where to find an alien signal?"

The Doctor grinned and nodded.

"I knew your name was familiar. I had nearly forgotten that the different countries had human representations. And yes. You never know where a good idea may come from. It needs to be a place with something really tall to transmit the signal." he replied happily.

Prussia sighed and strained his foggy mind, thinking of where such a signal may come from. There were plenty of tall buildings in the city, but something told him that this signal would need something much grander than that to work. After a moment an idea struck him, and he turned to look at the Doctor with gleaming red eyes.

"The Ferris wheel!" he exclaimed, pointing to a large circular structure in the distance.

The Doctor glanced out at the large steel structure and grinned before returning his attention to the country before him.

"Come on then! Allons-y!" he yelled, running along the street toward the wheel.

"Hey, wait! Slow down! Gah! I'm too drunk for zis!" Prussia growled, following as quickly as his unsteady feet would take him.

Several minutes later, Prussia watched curiously as the Doctor looked around the base of the Ferris wheel, his eyes narrowed in concentration. After a few minutes he grinned and pulled a strange looking device from his pocket, It whirred and the end glowed a bright blue as he ran it along the side of a large metal sheet that looked like it had been haphazardly nailed into the base of the amusement park ride.

"Vhat is zat zing?" Prussia asked as the nailed popped out of the metal, allowing it to fall to the ground with a loud clang.

"It's a sonic screwdriver." the Doctor replied, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Vhat?"

"It's an alien screwdriver."

Prussia lifted his eyebrows at the man and took a step back.

"Are you an alien, zen?" he asked.

The Doctor sighed and gave him a stern look.

"Yeah, is that going to be a problem?" he asked quietly.

Prussia watched him carefully, then gave him a wild, excited grin and shook his head.

"Nein. Zat's awesome!" he chuckled and motioned toward the gap left where the metal panel had been.

"Let's go see zis adventure zrough to ze end!" he said confidently: this was the most exciting thing to happen to him in a long time.

The Doctor smirked and nodded, leading the somewhat-less-drunken country into a strange metal passageway under the Ferris wheel. They were both silent as they navigated their way through the passage, looking around intently for any sign of life. Prussia's heart raced in his chest: it was hard for him to believe that this wasn't just some kind of really weird drunken fantasy. Thirty minutes ago he had been moping over a mug of beer at his favorite bar. Now he was following closely behind a mysterious man who claimed to be an alien, looking for more aliens. How lucky!

The two soon found themselves in a large, dimly lit room. There were several machines in one corner, with many colorful blinking lights on them. A strange orange substance bubbled in a large pit cut into the floor, and the Doctor approached it slowly.

"So, vhere is zis alien ve are looking for?" Prussia asked, giving the orange goo a disgusted look.

"That's it down there, and I'll ask you not to scowl at it like that. You'll make it angry." the Doctor nodded toward the orange goo, and Prussia jumped away from it.

"I demand to talk to you under the guidelines set by the Shadow Proclamation." the Doctor shouted sternly, his ficus on the bubbling mass at his feet.

The creature groaned and gurgled at him, and seemed to bubble more furiously. The Doctor listened intently, then sighed.

"Why are you doing this? What have these people ever done to you?" he yelled.

The creature gurgled at him again, and the Doctor narrowed his eyes.

"You can't take this planet just because you've lost your own. I'll take you somewhere else. Just stop your attack and leave these people alone." he demanded.

With each gurgling reply the creature made, the Doctor grew angrier and angrier. Finally he growled and shook his head at it.

"This is my last warning. If you don't stop this attack now I'll be forced to stop you myself!" he yelled.

Prussia found a grin worming its way across his face at this. He was a country born to battle, and the idea of it sent a wave of apprehension through him. He loved to fight, and this was an opportunity to do something no other country had done before: fight something from another world! He looked around desperately for something he could use, not sure is awesome crop could do much against a big blob of orange jello. He smirked when he found a lighter and a can of pressurized air lying on the ground.

"How convenient!" he mused to himself, picking them up and watching the Doctor's face as the creature replied to him.

The Doctor sighed and shook his head.

"You leave me no choice, then. I'm sorry for this." he said sadly, before pulling his sonic screwdriver from his pocket and pointing it toward the machines on the opposite wall.

The screwdriver whirred loudly, and sparks began to fly out of the machines. There was a series of loud popping noises, and smoke began to float up from them. The orange creature screeched and seemed to extend a long tendril from its body, which quickly wound its way around one of the Doctor's legs. The man yelled loudly and tried to pull away, but his effort was in vain as the creature began trying to pull him into the pit with it.

Seeing that his strange new friend was in trouble, Prussia glanced around for a way to get to a good angle to help. Seeing a large chain dangling from the ceiling, the country grinned widely. Brazen in his drunken state, he grabbed the chain with one hand and dug a piece of string from his pocket with the other. He quickly tied the string around the switch of the lighter, making sure it stayed lit when he let it go. With an enthusiastic shout he jumped and swung, clinging to the chain as it brought him swinging over the bubbling orange mass.

Prussia smirked and dropped the can of pressurized air into the mass, waiting until the chain brought him back over it to drop in the lighter as well. The creature screeched and released the Doctor, seeming to pull back as the two items sank into it. Prussia jumped off of the chain and grabbed the stunned Doctor's arm, tugging on it desperately.

"Now vould be a good time to run! Vhen ze lighter meets zat can of air, zat zing is going to explode!" he yelped.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" the Doctor shouted, following him up the passage as the alien screeched behind them.

The strange pair ran as fast as they could out of the passage and away from the Ferris wheel. Mere minutes after they had gotten out of the passageway, there was a loud rumble that made the ground shudder beneath their feet. Prussia stumbled, clinging to the Doctor to keep from falling as the ground rolled under his feet. They both turned to look back as the Ferris wheel shuddered and leaned over a little. Luckily, it didn't completely fall. The Doctor gave a sad sigh and looked at Prussia with a thoughtful expression.

"You killed it." he pointed out obviously.

"Ja, vell...I have to protect ze Earth, even if everyone is forgetting ze awesome me. I don't zink I am going to be a country for much longer." Prussia said slowly, his red eyes dimming at the thought.

The Doctor watched him carefully, then motioned for him to follow him. Prussia followed curiously, noticing that he was thinking much faster now. All of the adrenaline must have helped push his drunken stupor aside for now. He was sure it wouldn't spare him the awful hangover in the morning, though.

The Doctor suddenly stopped, and Prussia found himself looking at what looked like a blue Police Call Box. He lifted an eyebrow at the Doctor and gave a nervous grin.

"Not gonna turn me in for public intoxication, are you?" he asked with a nervous chuckle.

The Doctor smirked.

"No. That's my ship. It's my TARDIS. With this, I travel not only through space, but through time as well." he said with a gentle smile.

"Zat zing takes you zrough time und space? It's tiny! Kesesese!" Prussia laughed incredulously, shaking his head.

"Take a look inside, Prussia." the Doctor motioned toward the TARDIS, and Prussia shrugged and took a few uneven steps toward it.

He paused in front of the door and looked it over before pushed it in and taking a few steps inside. The Doctor stood outside with a smile, waiting. After a few moments of stunned silence, he got what he was expecting.

"NO VAY!"

He chuckled as Prussia stumbled out of the TARDIS, circling it with wide eyes.

"Zat's not possible! It's...it's..." he stammered, shivering slightly.

"It's bigger on the inside, yes. Time Lord science." the Doctor chuckled at the all-too-familiar reaction.

"Vhat is a Time Lord?"

"That's what I am. A Time Lord. The last...of the Time Lords."

Prussia turned to give his a curious look, cocking his head to the side.

"Ze last? Vhat happened?" he asked.

"There was a war. A terrible war. The last Great Time War. We lost. Everyone lost. My people, my whole planet, was lost. It burned. Gallifrey burned. Everything burned." the Doctor replied evenly.

Prussia gave him a quick, understanding nod.

"Ja. Ve just got out of a terrible var ourselves." he mused, looking the TARDIS over again.

"I know. World War Two. Awful war. Well..."

Prussia looked up as the Doctor strode up to the door of the TARDIS and leaned against the door frame. The country backed up a few feet, watching the mysterious man in awe. He was framed by golden light that spilled out of his ship, and he looked somewhat mystical.

"It's time for me to go. I've got all of time and space to see." the Doctor started slowly.

"Ja. Have fun vith zat. I've got...nothing. Just to vait until ze rest of ze vorld decides mein fate..." Prussia sighed sadly.

"Well...you could do that. Or..."

Prussia looked up into the man's deep brown eyes curiously, not aware that he had more than one option.

"Or...?"

The Doctor smirked and held out his hand invitingly.

"You could come with me?"

Prussia bit his lip, his mind racing. Sure, seeing all of space and time would be exciting. It was a very tempting offer. He could spread his awesomeness to the stars, make sure he was remembered on other planets. Who knows what kinds of things he could achieve? But...what about his brother, Germany? And his friends? Would Germany, Hungary, Spain, and France even care if he were to disappear? And there was the promise he made to his Vati, Germania, all of those years ago...

"I...I can't. I made a promise to mein Vati to vatch over mein bruder after he died. I have to keep Germany safe..." Prussia sighed regretfully.

"Remember, the TARDIS is a time machine. We can explore all of space and time, and have you back in time for breakfast." the Doctor pointed out.

At this, Prussia paused. The wheels finally clicked into place in his head, and he grinned.

"Alright, zen! Count me in! Kesesese!"

The Doctor smiled and stepped aside, allowing Prussia to jump into the TARDIS. The door swung shut behind him, and Prussia allowed his gaze to rest on the large machine in the middle of the huge room. There were several passages that seemed to lead to other parts of the ship as well. He would have to explore those later.

The Doctor smirked at the man's dumbfounded expression and walked to the machine, a somewhat arrogant swagger in his step.

"Vhere are ve going first?" Prussia asked.

The Doctor gave a wide grin and patted the machine.

"Anywhere and anywhen we want to go."

**And thus begins the adventures of Prussia and the Doctor! Woo, this is going to be AWESOME! Here we go! Allons~y!~Silver **


	2. First and Final Day

**Chapter Two**

**First and Final Day**

Prussia groaned and clung desperately to a rail on the main floor of the TARDIS, keeping his eyes squeezed shut as the ship churned and rattled. To say that the ship didn't fly smoothly would be akin to saying that England's scones were terrible. The fact that the albino was suffering from one _hell _of a hangover didn't help settle his stomach. The Doctor ran around the machine in the middle of the room, throwing switches and turning levers with an enthusiastic grin. He had something grand in mind for Prussia's first trip through time, and was eager to arrive as soon as possible.

Finally, there was a loud thud, and the TARDIS was still. Prussia slowly released his death-grip on the rail and looked up. The Doctor grinned at him and motioned toward the door.

A grin spreading across his own face, the country walked to the door and threw it open, swaggering out with the Doctor close on his heels. Prussia found himself standing on the deck of a ship of some sort. There was a massive window directly across from him, and he could easily see a planet from it. They were orbiting what looked like a charred, desolate rock of a planet. Prussia walked in awe to the window and stared open-mouthed at the planet.

"Vhere und vhen are ve?" he asked in a dazed whisper.

"Well, we're orbiting the Earth, or what remains of it. And it's about 5 billion years in your future. And this is the last day of the Earth." the Doctor replied with an almost cheery smile.

Prussia turned jerkily to look at him, his eyes wide.

"Vhat!?"

The Doctor smiled and gestured out toward the dry-looking planet.

"Welcome, Prussia, to the end of the world."

Prussia returned his gaze to the planet he called home, his throat suddenly very dry. The end of the world? The end of _his _world? What about all of the people that lived there? What about his friends?

"Vhat about mein bruder...?" Prussia whispered quietly.

"What was that?" the Doctor asked.

"Vhat about all of ze people zat live zere, und the countries? Von't zey die?"

"Oh, that. No, there isn't anyone there anymore. They all live on other planets, or on ships and stations. Even the countries have their own starships where some of their citizens live."

Prussia gave a relieved sigh and looked around at the blackness of space. He paused when he noticed something odd.

"Vhat is vrong vith ze Sun?" he asked.

The Sun was much larger than he remembered, and it was glowing a harsh red. It's surface seemed to bubble and froth, and Prussia couldn't help but think it looked swollen. It looked as if it might pop at any moment.

"Ah. Well, _that's _how all of this happens. As stars age, they burn up more and more gases. Eventually, however, they run out. After that, they die. That's what's happening to your Sun. Today, it will explode, and the shock wave will fry the Earth crispy like bacon. That's why this ship is here. People are going to watch the Earth explode from an observation deck." the Doctor answered matter-of-factually.

"Vhy vould zey vant to do zat?" Prussia asked, feeling somewhat nauseous at the idea.

"For entertainment. It's fun."

Prussia shot the Doctor a quick look and was about to reply, but was cut off as they heard footsteps coming from behind them. They both turned on their heels to see that they were being approached by a creature that looked roughly hominid in form, but was clearly not human. The deep blue color of it's skin, vibrant green eyes, and four fingers made that fact blatantly obvious. The alien looked them over curiously and lifted an eyebrow at them.

"You aren't supposed to be here. You're not on the guest list." he accused somewhat angrily.

The Doctor grinned and pulled a wallet from his pocket, opening it and holding it out for the creature to see. As the alien read whatever was written on the piece of paper inside the wallet, the Doctor spoke in his usual arrogant tone.

"I'm the Doctor, and this is Prussia, my plus-one. We're parked over there, could you have someone move my ship to the parking deck?" he asked confidently, retracting his arm.

"Certainly, sir. I apologize for any inconvenience. Follow me." the alien bowed slightly and beckoned them to follow him.

"Vhat did you show him?" Prussia whispered as they walked, careful not to be overheard.

The Doctor grinned and held the wallet up for Prussia to see, revealing a completely blank sheet of paper.

"This is psychic paper. It shows others exactly what I want them to see. For example, the steward there saw a ticket to this little shindig, plus one. That's you." he said cheerily, and Prussia smirked despite what they were going to see.

It didn't take them long to reach the observation deck, and Prussia's eyes went wide at what he saw. The deck was very large, and they could get a better view of the Earth from where they were. He sighed and walked to the observation window, his red eyes pools of mixed emotion as he stared down at the dying planet. He wasn't exactly sure how to feel about all of this. Sure, the planet was empty, and it would be _awesome _to see an explosion big enough to swallow it whole. However, abandoned and desolate as it was, that charred lump of rock below was his home, and it was sad to see it go like this.

"Wait here. The other guests will be arriving shortly." the steward said slowly before leaving them alone.

The Doctor took note of the look on Prussia's face and walked to his side, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright?" he asked quietly.

"Ja. It's just zat...ve spent so much time vondering about vhat vas going to do us in at Vorld Meetings. Famine, disease, pollution, global varming...I guess I didn't expect it to be our own Sun zat got us in ze end." Prussia replied thoughtfully, tapping his chin with a finger as he gazed out at the Earth.

"Ah, but it isn't the end. Human kind exists all over the place, out in the stars. You spread around the entirety of the universe, taking stories of Earth with you. I'm fairly certain you lot will be around forever."

Prussia looked over at him and gave a small smirk.

"But none of zem vill ever be as awesome as me!" he laughed, back to his usual loud self.

The Doctor chuckled and was about to reply, but was cut off by the steward returning to the room.

"Now announcing our distinguished guests. First we have the Face of Boe..." the steward moved aside to allow an assistant to wheel in a large glass container with a massive greenish-gray face floating in it.

"As well as the Adherents to the Repeated Meme."

A small group of cloaked figures with gnarled black hands peeking out from under their robes walked in after the face.

"And Jabe of the Forests of Cheem, with her two assistants."

A woman looking as if she were part tree, with bark for skin and leaves woven into her hair, walked in, followed by two tall, intimidating men of the same species.

More and more creatures were introduced, each one stranger than the last. Prussia's heart raced at the sight of them. He knew that he couldn't expect all aliens to look as human as the Doctor did, but he certainly hadn't expected to see a giant face or tree people. The guests grew weirder and weirder, and he grew more anxious as each one entered the room.

"And last but not least we have Lady Cassandra, the self-proclaimed last pure human." the steward announced, and another guest was wheeled in.

Prussia was surprised to find that the last guest was nothing more than a very human face on a large, flat panel of skin mounted on a frame. Her brain sat in a jar on her frame, and two attendants in white uniforms stood at her sides. She cast a haughty glance over all of them before speaking in a loud, self-obsessed voice.

"That's right, I am the _last _completely pure human. I have come to pay my respects to the dear planet below. My parents were born down there. My father was a farmer. Dear old Dad..." the woman continued.

"Vhat does she mean by _pure human_?" Prussia whispered quickly to the Doctor.

"Well, when humans went out into the stars, they didn't keep to themselves. They mingled. Lots of new species were formed. I doubt there's a human alive whose bloodline hails completely from Earth, not even Cassandra there." the Doctor nodded toward the woman.

After a few minutes of chit-chatting, the party went into full swing. Prussia kept to the sidelines and watched as the Doctor mingled, speaking cheerily with Jabe, the tree-woman. He found himself surprised when the Adherents to the Repeated Meme approached him, one of them holding out a silver orb to him.

"Vhat is zat?" Prussia asked, lifting an eyebrow at it suspiciously.

"A gift of peace." one of the creatures spoke rigidly, dropping the cool, light ball into his hand.

Prussia watched as they seemed to glide away, and noticed that they had given everyone at the party one of the orbs. He sighed and shook his head. There was so much going on, he felt claustrophobic. He needed space and quiet to sort out his thoughts and get used to the idea of space and time travel. He stood up and stretched his back, giving a satisfied grunt as it popped, before walking toward the Doctor. He paused for a moment when he noticed Cassandra near the window, and walked to her side.

"It will be sad to see the planet go up in flames. I'm glad I could be here to see it. As the last human, I feel like it's my duty. Moisturize me!" she barked the last command at one of her attendants, who quickly sprayed her drying skin with water.

"Can you even call yourself human anymore? You look more like a trampoline vith a face to me. Vhat kind of a life is zhat?" Prussia asked quietly.

"The life of one with the money to afford it."

Prussia snorted at this.

"So zat's it, zen? You get everyzing nipped und tucked avay? Sounds like a vaste of money to ze awesome me! You aren't even a human anymore. You're just...skin. Vith a face." he sighed and stormed away, leaving the woman with a bitter look on her face.

Prussia walked quickly up to the Doctor, tugging on his sleeve to get his attention. The man and Jabe looked at him curiously.

"I'm going up to ze ozer deck for a little bit. I need to zink. Zis is a lot to take in." Prussia said quickly.

The Doctor nodded understandingly and watched as the frustrated country left the room. Jabe watched him as well, a curious look painted across her face.

"Who was that, Doctor? Your partner?" she asked.

"What? No, nothing like that. He's my companion. Just a friend." the Doctor replied quickly.

Jabe smiled as if she understood what he had meant and continued their previous conversation. Meanwhile, Prussia wandered slowly onto the deck he and the Doctor had landed on. He sighed and stared out the large window, letting his eyes rest on the planet below. He knew that the planet was abandoned, but it still hurt to think of it being swallowed in flames. After the past war, he wasn't the biggest fan of fire, and the idea of the entire Earth set ablaze sent shudders down his spine. It wasn't a pleasant sensation.

"I should have told Germany und ze ozers zat I vas leaving...in case I don't come back..." he muttered to himself, suddenly realizing that he could actually die during whatever adventures the Doctor had planned for him.

He sighed and sat the silvery orb the Adherents to the Repeated Meme had given him on the floor, sitting down with a low groan. The ship seemed to slowly be settling, and he could hear the party going on on the observation deck. His thoughts wandered to all of the strange creatures he had seen in less than twenty-four hours. If it weren't for the hangover pills the Doctor had given him, he would think all of this was just because of a bad swig of beer. However, it was real, and he could hardly believe it. He was on a space ship! 5 billion years in the future!

The preoccupied country was too caught up in his own thoughts to notice that the orb beside him had suddenly opened up, revealing a metal spider-like creature. The creature looked Prussia over with its single camera-like eye before scuttling off almost silently. It paused at the wall, then ascended it and crawled into the ventilation system. Unbeknownst to all of the other people at the party, the other orbs had done the same thing. They gathered in the vents, then scuttled off to different parts of the ship, moving quickly and with purpose.

Meanwhile, the steward sat at his desk at the helm of the ship, talking out loud to the computer. It had run a scan on the ship, and had just alerted him to something in the air vents.

"Well, do another scan. Find out what they are." he said impatiently.

"Yes sir." the computer replied in a monotone.

The alien sat in silence for a few minutes, staring out his window at the soon-to-roast planet. He felt nothing as he stared out at it. To him, it was just another rock. It hadn't been his home, nor that of any of his ancestors. As far as he knew, he didn't have a drop of human in his blood.

"Source not found. Give description?" the computer shook him from his thoughts.

"Description? I don't know what they look like!" he growled in irritation.

Just as the words crossed his lips, he caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye. Turning, he was surprised to see a small metal spider-looking thing staring at him from atop his desk. He blinked at it, confused.

"Though, if I had a say, I would think they look something like that..." he murmured quietly.

The spider-thing looked at him for a moment longer, then used one of its slender legs to push a rather ominous (and badly placed, might I add. Really, what a stupid place for it.) red button on his desk.

"Sun Shields descending. Sun Shields descending." the computer warned.

The steward screamed as the protective panel that kept the sunlight from frying him lowered. The spider quickly scuttled away as he tried in vain to get the computer to bring the sun shield back up. With one final shout of terror, the sunlight scorched him, turning him into a blackened crisp.

Back at the party, the group of aliens continued to mingle, not noticing that the steward had been absent for a long while. Jabe and the Doctor were still talking, but both were beginning to notice something that was making them uncomfortable. It was starting to get hot. Ships such as this one were well known for having excellent ventilation and cooling systems, so it was very unusual for it to get above a preset temperature.

"Why is it so hot all of a sudden?" Jabe asked, fanning herself and looking around.

"Must be something wrong with the temperature control. Let's have a looksie, hm? Allons-y!" the Doctor smirked and walked to a panel on one of the walls.

Jabe followed, lifting an eyebrow as the eccentric man pulled his Sonic Screwdriver from his coat pocket and ran it along the edge of the panel. The cover popped off into the Doctor's hands, and he was quick to set it down and return his attention to the wires and knobs within. He was surprised to see that many of the wires had been sliced clean. Jabe was surprised as well, and narrowed her eyes at it.

"That's impossible. No one's been over here, and that panel was firmly in place before you removed it." she reasoned slowly.

"That's right. Which means...they were cut from the inside." the Doctor replied, slipping his screwdriver back into his pocket.

"How could this happen?"

"Sabotage."

"Why would anyone do this? If it gets too hot, everyone will die. What if the Sun Shields go down?"

The Doctor gave her a quick look.

"If that happens, then we all die. But I'm not going to let that happen. We need to find whatever is doing this, and the best way to do that is to go to the steward's office." he said seriously, running out into the hallway.

Jabe shot a quick look over her shoulder before following him. The two made their way through the ship, and soon noticed a strange smell hanging in the air. It was the scent of very overcooked meat. They curiously followed it to its source, and found themselves staring into the steward's office. They rolled their lips back in horror at the sight of his scorched remains, still sitting in his chair. The Doctor ran into the room and took a quick look around, then groaned.

"The Sun Shields went down. It looks like the computer has brought it back up, but too late for our friend here." he said quietly, looking up at Jabe sorrowfully.

"That's awful...what do we do?" Jabe asked quietly.

"We need to go find the back-up controls for the Sun Shields, and lock them. These are fried." the Doctor answered somewhat angrily.

"Oh, I think there is a back-up switch down near the fans for the cooling system." Jabe said, attempting to be helpful.

"Good. We'd better hurry. Who knows when the shields for different parts of the ship will start going down."

In the smaller of the observation rooms, Prussia lounged somewhat sleepily on the floor. He was dozing when a loud slamming noise made him jolt awake. He sat up and spun quickly to see that the large steel door to the room had shut. With a frustrated growl, the country climbed to his feet and strode to the door. He grabbed the handle casually and attempted to pull it open, surprised when it didn't budge. He growled again and pulled harder, but he couldn't force the door open: it had locked.

"Shiza! Vhat ze hell is going on? Let me out! I'm too awesome for zis crap!" he swore loudly, tugging at the door furiously.

"Sun Shields descending. Sun Shields descending." a droning voice echoed in the room, and Prussia spun on his heels in confusion.

"Sun Shields? Vhat ze hell does zhat mean?" he asked out loud.

He froze and went pale(er) when he noticed that a panel of what looked like tinted glass had started lowering on the outside of the window. The room immediately began to heat up as intense sunlight filtered into the room, and Prussia found himself sweating. Realizing what was happening, he turned and began pounding his fists against the door in panic.

"Shiza! Let me out! Someone, HELP! SHIZA SHIZA SHIZA SHIZA SHIZAAAAAAAA!" he screamed loudly, hoping someone would hear him.

Luckily, his cries for help were heard. The Doctor and Jabe had heard the sounds of the Sun Shields being lowered, and had hurried to find the source. The Doctor quickly ran to the small control panel on the outside of the door, pulling his Sonic Screwdriver from his pocket and holding it to it.

"Who's in there?" he yelled as he worked.

"Vho do you zink it is?" Prussia shouted back hurriedly.

"Oh, _of course _it would be you." the Doctor sighed, concentrating on what he was doing.

"It's not like I chose zis! Hurry up, ze light is almost touching me und I don't vant to fry!"

"Sun Shields ascending. Sun Shields ascending." the computer echoed, and just in time: the light was unnervingly close to baking the edge of Prussia's black boots.

"Ahh, danke Gott! Could you open ze door?" Prussia sighed in relief.

"Ah, no, sorry. You'll have to wait until I can unlock it from the back-up controls. Stay. There." the Doctor replied before quickly running off, Jabe right behind him.

"How ze hell vould I go anyvhere!? Doctor? Doctor!?" Prussia yelled angrily after him.

Jabe followed the strange man as he navigated through the hull of the ship, watching him carefully. She had been curious since she had seen him. She knew he wasn't human, of course: there was an archaic air about him, the way he carried himself. And there was so much pain and loneliness in his eyes. She wasn't sure what he was, but whatever he was, she was sure that he had been through something terrible.

"What are you?" she asked quietly, hoping for an answer.

"Ah, that's not important." the man replied quickly.

"It is if you want me to keep following you. I'm not blindly following a stranger into goodness knows where, to run into goodness knows what."

The Doctor paused, then sighed and cast her a sorrowful look.

"I'm a Time Lord." he replied softly.

Jabe's eyes went wide, and her jaw nearly dropped from the shock. A Time Lord? That was impossible! They had all died at the end of the last great Time War, over a thousand years ago. If he really was a Time Lord, then...

"I'm so sorry." she said just as softly.

The Doctor gave her an appreciative smile and nodded before continuing to the hull of the ship. They soon found themselves stumbling into a very large room. A set of three massive bladed fans spun from above, and the blades came very close to scraping the metal floor. They spun rather quickly, and it would be nearly impossible to jump through them without being cut in half. The controls for the system back-up were (of course) on the other end of these massive fans.

"It can never be easy, can it?" the Doctor sighed to himself, approaching the fans warily.

Jabe glanced at him sadly, then looked to the wall. A large lever was attached to it, and she had a creeping suspicion of what it was for. With another quick look at the Time Lord framed against the whirring cold steel, she stumbled to it and threw it down. It tried to lift up again, and she pressed all of her weight against it: she would have to hold it down.

The Doctor looked over his shoulder at her as the fans very slowly began to lose speed. A worried look crossed his face as he saw what she had done, and felt the room heating up considerably.

"Jabe! You can't! You're made of wood!" he yelled at her.

"Then you had better hurry up, Time Lord. Good luck." she called back with a small, accepting smile.

The Doctor sighed and returned his attention to the fan before him. He stared at it in intense concentration, trying to catch the pattern that its blades crossed his path in. After a few moments, he grunted and jumped through the first one. He barely made it, and felt the blade clip the edge of his coat as he landed. With another sigh he turned to check on Jabe. She was leaning heavily on the lever, and sweat coated her pained face. She tried to give him an encouraging smile, but it came out as more of a pained grimace as the temperature rose.

"Jabe, go! I'll be fine!" he tried again, but she shook her head: she was seeing this through to the end.

The Doctor nodded and turned to face the second fan. It wasn't moving much slower than the first one, and the Doctor wondered just how well that lever was wired up. Realizing that he didn't have time to question mechanics right now, he focused solely on making it past the second fan. With another grunt he jumped through, unscathed. He turned again to give Jabe another look, only to be met with an extremely pained look. She cast the Doctor a sad look and mouthed "I'm Sorry", before a small fire suddenly sparked on her arm.

The Doctor watched in silent anguish as the flames quickly engulfed the screaming tree woman, and she was reduced to a pile of ash. He stood completely still for a moment, a silent tear running along his cheek. He then turned to face the last fan, a determined look in his eyes. The fan had sped back up, but that didn't seem to bother the Doctor. He closed his eyes and pushed everything out of his head. The whole universe went quiet in his head: there was nothing but him, and the whirring fan. Giving one final sigh, he strode confidently forward. The fan didn't even brush past him as he passed it and walked to the control panel, calmly popping it open.

Prussia sat glumly on the floor, staring out at the Earth. It had been a while since the Doctor had run off, and he was quickly growing bored. Something was happening, and he wasn't involved in it. For some reason this irritated him: probably because he liked to be involved in everything. There was a loud click, stirring the country from his thoughts, and he turned to see the Doctor framed in the door.

"Ah, finally! Zere you are! Uhm, vhere is zat tree chick zat vas vith you?" he asked, jumping to his feet and striding to the man's side.

"Gone. And the last one to die today. Come on." the Doctor's voice was stern and angry, and Prussia immediately shut up. Seeing how angry the Doctor was sent an immediate "shut-your-trap-for-once" signal to his brain, and he listened.

Following the hurried footsteps of his strange new friend, the two returned to the main observation deck. They weren't surprised to find the other patrons on board looking very anxious and confused: there must have been some damage here as well. One of the tree people who had come with Jabe walked quickly up to the Doctor.

"Get the steward, Jabe's gone missing! We have to find her!" he said in a panic.

"They're both dead. This ship was sabotaged. By these." the Doctor replied coolly, holding up one of the spider-like creatures.

"Then we have to destroy them!"

"No, this is just a robot. A pet. The ones who brought them are the guilty party."

The Doctor set the creature down, and it scuttled quickly to the Adherents to the Repeated Meme.

"I should have suspected something from them! Arrest them!" Cassandra yelled, the others murmuring in agreement.

"See, that's the problem. A repeated meme is just an idea, a thought. Thus, it has no body." the Doctor walked up to one of the Adherents and grabbed its arm, tugging hard.

The arm came of in his hand, revealing several wires and tubes: it was made of metal. The Doctor dropped it to the ground and looked up at the others.

"More robots."

He glanced down at the little spider creature and nudged it with his foot.

"Go on, go home." he cooed at it.

It glanced around, then scuttled quickly to hide behind Cassandra. She scoffed at it, then sighed.

"Fine, it was me. I had my spiders mess up the cooling system and the Sun Shields." she admitted bitterly.

"Why?" one of the aliens asked.

"I was going to have the Adherents to the Repeated Meme hold us ransom. Your families would pay millions of credits for all of you. I could use the money for more surgeries. It's expensive to stay this beautiful. Moisturize me! " Cassandra said quickly, her attendants spraying her with water.

Prussia smirked and rolled his eyes at her.

"Zat's stupid. If zey didn't pay, zen you vould die as vell! Dunkomff!" he snicked at her somewhat proudly.

Cassandra smirked back at him.

"Teleport."

There was a strange noise, and the images of Cassandra and her attendants vanished. Prussia snarled angrily and jammed his hands into his pockets, pouting slightly.

"Vell, shiza. She got away from us, Doctor." he complained bitterly.

"Not quite." the Doctor replied, holding out his Sonic Screwdriver.

The small device whirred, and Cassandra's image slowly faded back until she had returned completely: without her attendants.

"And then I...oh. Hello again. Er...teleport, teleport!" she tried in vain to leave again, but nothing happened.

"I locked the teleport." the Doctor explained simply.

"Ooh, darn it! Well, that's fine. I'm young and beautiful and-" she was cut off by a loud groaning sound, followed by a smirk from Prussia.

"Und creaking." he said with a knowing smile.

"What?"

"You're creaking, Cassandra. Kesesese!" he chuckled somewhat darkly.

"Ah! I'm drying out! Moisturize me!" she screamed, her skin cracking rather quickly.

"I'm afraid not." the Doctor said with a somewhat sad expression.

"My boys! Where are my wonderful boys? NOOOOOO!" the used-to-be woman cried out before bursting, sending disgusting looking pinkish fluid everywhere.

Prussia curled his lip at the sight.

"Yuck. Not awesome."

The Doctor sighed and shook his head, then looked at the others.

"I've sent a distress signal, so someone will come by soon for you. Come on, Prussia. We need to go." he said lifelessly.

"Vait. I vant to see ze Earth burned up." Prussia replied, resigned and determined to see it: he felt like he needed to somehow.

The Doctor watched him for a moment, then nodded and led him to where his TARDIS had been parked. There was a rather large window there, and both men leaned against it as they waited for the Sun to finally engulf the planet in a wave of red heat. They didn't have to wait long: within minutes, a wave of flames erupted from the dying star. They watched as it crashed over the Earth like a massive tidal wave. Prussia's eyes stung a bit at the sight, but something told him that the man beside him had seen much worse.

"You alright, Doctor?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I'm always fine." the Doctor replied with a slow nod.

Prussia nodded and sighed before looking over at the strange man he had rushed into traveling with.

"Vhere to next, zen?" he asked.

The Doctor smiled and walked into the TARDIS. Prussia smirked and followed, closing the door with a resounding snap behind him. The TARDIS made its usual whooshing noise as its image faded, and soon it and the two people inside had vanished, off to pursue even more wonderful, terrible adventures.

**Yeesh this took FOREVER to write. So, I'm not gonna go in episodic order, or in season order. Most stores progress in a linear fashion, but this one is gonna be more of a mass of...Wibbly-Wobbly...Timey-Whimey...****_stuff._**** I hope you enjoy that stuff. I apologize for grammar and spelling mistakes. I type fast. Allons-y~!**

**~Silver**


	3. Forgive and Forget

**Chapter Three**

**Forgive and Forget**

The Doctor's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the screen, his lips pursed slightly and hand at his chin. Prussia stood by his side, tilting his head slightly as he watched as well. On the screen, there were many people bustling about in what looked like a crowded, futuristic street. There were several benches sitting in an area near what looked like elevators, and a girl who looked like she was about twelve years old sat at one of them. Her eyes were puffy and red, and it was clear that she was crying and very upset over something.

"Now that's odd..." the Doctor started curiously.

"Vhat, a little frau crying? Nein, zey do it all ze time." Prussia replied, calmer than the other man.

"No, it's not that. When adults see a child crying, what do they usually do?"

"Uhm...ask vhat is vrong?"

"Exactly. They want to find out what is wrong and see if there is anything they can do to help. But that's not happening here. Look, she's clearly very upset, but no one is stopping to ask why."

The Doctor was right: people were walking right by her. Some even quickened their step as they passed, shooting her sorrowful glances. Prussia knitted his eyebrows and looked at the Doctor with a concerned look.

"Vhat does zat mean?" he asked.

"It means that they already know what's wrong, and they don't want to talk about it. Which means we need to investigate. Come on, Prussia, Allons-y!" the Doctor smiled and walked to the door of the TARDIS.

"Vhere are ve?" Prussia asked, following the overexcited man out onto the street.

"Well, we are on a rather large spaceship. You see, after the conditions on Earth started getting bad, people moved out into space. Each nation got their own ship. _This_ is England's ship. In other words, welcome to Spaceship U.K!" the Doctor replied cheerily.

Prussia lifted his eyebrows and looked around with wide red eyes as people bustled by hurriedly. The ship looked like a futuristic London, and it was eerie. It sent shivers up the country's spine, and he couldn't help but wonder if England was on board. Then another question popped into his head.

"Doctor, vill I have mein own ship? Am I even alive at zis point?" he asked curiously.

The Doctor furrowed his brow at him.

"You're a cheery one, aren't you? I can't tell you that, sorry. Spoilers." he replied, looking around somewhat frantically. There seemed to be something bothering him.

He seemed to spot what he was looking for, because he skipped over to a table where a couple were eating lunch and grabbed a glass of water. He set it carefully on the ground and stared at it for a few moments in contemplative silence before quickly setting it back on the table. The couple shot him confused, somewhat disapproving looks, and he gave them a slightly apologetic smile.

"Sorry. I'm looking for a runaway fish." he said quickly before returning to Prussia's side.

"A runavay fish? Zat's ze best you could come up vith? Vhat vere you doing, anyvay?" he asked with a slight smirk of amusement.

"No time to explain. I'm going to poke around and try to find the engine room. I want you to follow that girl and find out what's been going on. Got it?" the Doctor asked somewhat sternly.

"Ja, ja, I got it." the impatient man was itching to get to work: he was pretty excited about this.

The Doctor grinned and clapped him on the back before running off and vanishing into the crowd, leaving Prussia alone in the middle of a very strange city. He sighed and looked over to where the girl had been. He gasped when he saw that she wasn't there anymore, and looked around. He caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye, and turned just in time to see the number she pressed on the elevator before its doors closed and shielded her from his gaze. Prussia sighed and ran to the elevator, growling a low curse under his breath.

Meanwhile, the Doctor found himself wandering the lower part of the ship, listening intently for any sound that would tell him where the motors were. He was growing increasingly worried as nothing of the sort met his ears. He spotted several metal boxes attached to the walls, and a grin crossed his face: power boxes! Those should give him some clue as to where the engine room was! He ran quickly to them and started scanning over them, and was about to pop them open when a voice interrupted him.

"What in the name of Queen Elizabeth the Second do you think _you're_ doing?"

The Doctor turned on his heel and was surprised to see a man with very thick eyebrows, messy blonde hair, and emerald green eyes staring at him suspiciously. The man wore a simple black outfit and a black cloak, and he had his hands on his hips as he scanned over the Doctor's form carefully. The Doctor smirked at the familiar man and waved the Sonic Screwdriver dismissively.

"Long time no see, England." he said, returning his attention to the box he was working on.

England sighed and visibly relaxed.

"I thought that was you, Doctor. You've regenerated since last time I saw you." he replied, walking to the Time Lord's side.

"Oh, at least twice since last we met. So, why are you poking around down here?"

"I asked you first."

"Well, you know me. Something's not right here."

"What makes you say that?"

The Doctor popped the box open and jumped back as a jumbled mass of random objects spilled onto the floor.

"These power boxes are all fake. Which means that this ship is flying without an engine." he said with a confused look.

"Yes, quite. I've noticed the same thing, which is why I followed you. I saw you put the glass of water on the ground earlier." England said with a concerned look.

"If there was an engine, there would have been ripples in the water when I set it down. But there weren't."

"Yes. A ship that flies: without an engine."

"It's impossible."

"And yet here we are, old chap. Sailing the stars on a silent ocean, in an even more silent ship. Which is why I'm investigating. My government is hiding something from me, Doctor, and I can't say I care a bit for it. I don't know how this ship is flying, but I'm determined to find out." England's green eyes sparked with determination.

"Yeah, likewise. By the way, I have a new companion. He'll probably freak out and ask you all sorts of questions when he sees you, but you have to _promise_ not to answer him. It could ruin his future." the Doctor said earnestly.

"I'm well aware of time-lines and not meddling with them. Who is he?"

"Prussia."

"Prussia? From what time period?"

"Right after World War Two."

"Hmm, I see. Right before...that explains where...nevermind. I'll keep quiet. Come on, we need to find him."

"Indeed. Allons-y!"

As they spoke, Prussia wandered one of the higher floors, searching for the girl the Doctor had told him to follow. He jumped in surprise when a voice spoke from behind him, and turned quickly to see her giving him a satisfied smirk.

"You've been following me. I saw you earlier, with the man in the brown coat." she said surprisingly calmly.

"Vell...ja." Prussia admitted with a sheepish grin.

"Why are you following me?" the girl asked, tilting her head to one side.

"Ve saw you crying earlier und vanted to know vhy, frau. Vhat happened?" Prussia pressed curiously, if not bluntly.

The girl's face fell and she seemed to shrink in fear, glancing around before whispering an answer to him.

"One of my friends got bad marks in today's class. If you get bad marks, you can't ride the elevator and have to take the stairs, or you'll get taken below. He ignored that rule and tried to ride one anyway...and he didn't get off. I was waiting for him when you saw me crying on the bench." she explained, tears jumping into her eyes.

Prussia, never one to like seeing children upset, immediately went to her side and wrapped an arm around her thin shoulders.

"Shh, mein friend und I are going to fix everyzing. Vhat did you mean by 'taken below'?" he asked, trying to get information and calm her at the same time.

"He was taken to the lowest level of the ship..." the girl replied, sniffling slightly.

"Vhat lies below?" he asked, a sense of unease settling into the pit of his stomach.

"A beast."

Prussia's eyes went wide, and he knew that he had to find the Doctor immediately. He grabbed the girl's hand protectively and stood up, a fierce and determined look on his face. If there was a beast on the ship, he could only assume that it was somehow hurting the children. He _hated_ seeing children hurt, and wouldn't allow it to continue.

"Come vith me. Ve are going to find mein friend und fix all of zis. I am ze awesome Prussia, und I'm too awesome to sit back und vatch little fraus und boys get hurt." he said sternly, and the girl's eyes went wide. In that moment, he looked like a knight to her: a knight sent to save the ship from the darkness that lay below.

As the two traveled around the ship, looking for a way that wasn't an elevator to go down to where the Doctor might be (there was no way in Hell Prussia was trusting those elevators now), they came across a place that was roped off with caution tape. Prussia paused, thinking he had heard a sound coming from behind the thick green tarp that hid whatever was roped off from view.

"Frau, vhat is over zere?" he asked, narrowing his gleaming ruby eyes.

"A hole." she replied uneasily.

"A hole. Vhat do you mean, a hole?"

"Just a hole. We're not allowed to go near them."

Prussia sighed and motioned for her to stand several feet away.

"Do you have a flashlight?" he asked.

The girl dug in her purse, handing him her flashlight and watching him fearfully.

"What are you doing? We're not supposed to do that! You'll get in trouble!" she whined when he approached the hole cautiously.

Prussia gave her a toothy grin and flashed her a thumbs-up before replying.

"I vas never one to obey rules, frau."

Prussia pushed the tarp out of his way and crawled past it, not as all surprised to find that it was pitch black on the other side. He flicked on the flashlight and looked around, his face going pale at what he saw. A long, rather thick vine-like thing rose from a broken grate on the floor. It had an intimidating sting on the end, and it swayed dangerously. It seemed to sense his presence, for it struck at him harshly. He jumped back, and it struck where his "vital regions" had been a moment before.

"Shiza..." he muttered under his breath, dodging as it struck at him again.

The terrified country stumbled backwards until he had pushed his way back out of the tarp, and almost whispered a sigh of relief before noticing that his problems hadn't ended yet. He found himself surrounded by a group of black-hooded people, and shuddered at the sense of menace that emanated from them. He manged to mutter a curse before one of them struck him on the side of the head, hard. He caught sight of the girl running off before losing consciousness.

The Doctor sighed as he continued his search for Prussia, England following closely behind him.

"Why on Earth did you take _Prussia_ with you, of all people? He's an idiot." England asked curiously.

"He needed to get away. I could sense his pain, and you know I hate seeing people like that. I know what it's like to feel as completely alone as he does." the Doctor answered with a tiny frown.

"You've always been like that, haven't you?"

"Not always. Just since...well, just for a while."

England nodded: he knew very well of the Time War. He knew that the amazing man before him was the last of his kind.

"The Lonely Angel." he mused quietly to himself.

"How long has this ship been running without an engine?" the Doctor asked, trying to change the subject.

"For as long as it's been flying." England replied.

The Doctor frowned: that certainly wasn't good.

He was about to ask another question, but was cut off by the sight of the girl from before running frantically toward him.

"Huff...huff...sir...your friend, Prussia...huff...he needs your help! They've taken him!" she gasped loudly.

"Hold on, slow down! What's your name?" the Doctor asked.

"Anne."

"Okay, Anne. Tell me what happened."

"Prussia and I were looking for you, and we found one of the restricted sections. He went in to look at it, and when he came back out they knocked him out and took him!" Anne sobbed in fear.

"Who took him?" the Doctor asked.

"The men in the black robes did."

England scowled angrily.

"That'll be the sect of the government I'm investigating. Come on, I know where they've taken him. He'll be in the voting room." England took off running, Anne and the Doctor following.

"Voting room? What happens in there?" the Doctor yelled to England as they ran.

"Well, people watch some sort of informational video the government makes, then they vote on one of two options. If they choose Forget, they forget all of the information on the video and are released. If they choose Protest, well...I don't exactly know what happens, but those are the people we never see again." England replied ominously, and the Doctor quickened his pace. He didn't know what was going on, but he certainly didn't like it.

Prussia woke with a low groan and sat up, rubbing his throbbing head and gritting his teeth at the pain.

"Mein Gott, vhat a headache. Have I got a hangover?" he mumbled to himself, looking around.

The country was surprised to find himself sitting in a simple chair in front of a large screen. The rest of the room was empty, and there was a door at the other end of the cold gray room. Two large red buttons sat at hand level below the large screen. One read "Forget", and the other "Protest". Prussia lifted his eyebrows at this.

"Forget und protest? Forget und protest vhat?" he growled.

As if to answer his question, the screen before him lit up, and an elderly looking man appeared on it. He cleared his throat and seemed to look at the startled country. The man's piercing blue eyes sent shivers down Prussia's spine, and he found himself very curious as to what was about to be said.

"Hello. If you're watching this, then you have a very important decision to make. After you view the information we are about to show you, you have two choices. If you choose forget, you will forget everything I've told you and you will walk free. If you choose protest, and a total of one percent of the population does the same, then we will stop what we are doing. Now, we begin." he droned in a concerned, somewhat scared voice.

Prussia's eyes went wide as images flashed on the screen, and before he knew what he was doing he found that he had forcefully mashed the "Forget" button. Right as everything he had seen vanished from his mind, the door behind him was kicked in. He turned sharply to see the Doctor, the little girl, and future England racing into the room. They paused when they noticed that tears were running down Prussia's face, and he was visibly shaking. The Doctor raced forward and looked over the machine in front of him, realizing what must have happened.

"Prussia, what have you _done_?" he hissed angrily.

"I-I...I don't know..." Prussia stammered, Anne grasping his hand comfortingly.

The Doctor looked over the machine again before looking back at England with a wary smile.

"You said that the people who chose Protest vanish, right?" he asked.

"Yes..." England replied lowly.

"Well then, let's go meet the people behind all of this. Allons-y!" the Doctor grinned and slapped his hand down onto the Protest button.

The floor suddenly opened out from under them, and the four found themselves falling. Within a few moments the screaming group landed on something wet and spongy, groaning and sitting up. England pulled a disgusted face at the feeling on the surface under him.

"What in the bloody Hell is this?" he groaned.

"I believe it's a tongue...which means we are in quite the impressive mouth." the Doctor replied, using his Sonic Screwdriver to send a beam of blue light around the place.

A low, but very loud, bellow answered him, confirming his suspicions. Anne whimpered and clung to Prussia in terror, her eyes watering.

"It has to be the beast that lies below. It's going to eat us!" she cried out.

The bellow suddenly stopped, and the group fell silent. After several moments of somewhat awkward silence, they were surprised when a group of black-robed men came from seemingly nowhere and surrounded them. England bristled as he saw them, and walked angrily toward the one nearest him.

"Why are you here, and who do you work for?" he hissed lividly.

"We're here to take you to the dungeon, where the rest wait. We report to the highest authority." the man answered calmly.

"I _am _the highest authority!" England snarled.

"Yes, sir. Please, come with us."

The robed men began to lead them toward an exit, and they followed curiously. Anne seemed to relax a bit once they were out of the beast's mouth, but she kept a vice-like grip on Prussia's sleeve. The robed men led them up a few flights of stairs, and they soon found themselves in what looked like a control room. There were several screens set up, and one large one in the middle of the room. It had Forget and Protest buttons, and seemed to be connected to a large laser-like device hanging from the ceiling. The device was shooting a harsh beam of sizzling blue energy into a hole in the floor. There were several broken grates on the floor, and vine-like things like the one that attacked Prussia swayed from them. There were several robed men in the room, and several children in ragged outfits walked around the room: it looked like they were being used for labor.

Prussia growled angrily at this.

"How DARE you use children as slaves! I'm going to gut you und feed you to ze dogs!" he roared, having to be held back by an equally enraged England.

"Don't be so hasty, you git! We need to find out what's going on!" he hissed before turning his attention to a man who was approaching them.

The man lowered his hood slowly, revealing a thin, worn face, wispy gray hair, and tired eyes behind wire-framed glasses. England sighed at this.

"Rookwoulde. So this is where you've been hiding all of these years. What's going on? Why are these children being used like this?" he demanded.

"It won't eat the children, only adults. You're lucky. You're the first ones to be spared. Probably because there is a child with you." Rookwoulde answered in a tired voice.

"What won't eat zem?" Prussia asked.

"Look over here." the Doctor's voice came from behind them, and they turned to see him looking into the hole the laser was shooting into.

When they approached, they were surprised and horrified to see a massive brain in the hole. Anne gasped and backed away, joining the other children as they watched the scene unfold. The brain twitched and throbbed as the laser fired into it, and the Doctor was fighting back tears.

"Vhat are zey doing to it...?" Prussia asked in a hushed whisper.

"They're torturing it. We can't hear it because it's on a higher frequency, but it's screaming. Here. Listen." the Doctor pointed his Sonic Screwdriver at the machine above the laser.

Within moments a loud, high-pitched wailing filled the room. The people inside cringed as the cries ripped through them. They were filled with a terrible pain and agony, and tears stung at everyone's eyes. They couldn't stand the sounds of so much pain.

"Doctor, please...stop..." England begged.

The Doctor obliged, and silence filled the room once again.

England turned to glare at Rookwoulde.

"I demand that you release this creature at once! Who ordered you to do this?" he yelled.

"The highest authority." Rookwoulde answered sadly.

"I am the highest authority!"

"Exactly."

Rookwoulde walked to the large screen and turned it on, and England appeared on the screen. He looked deeply troubled, and his green eyes were puffy. He shifted a bit before beginning to speak.

"We've done something terrible. Absolutely terrible. But had we not done it, all of us would be dead. The UK would cease to exist. _This _is a Star Whale." as he spoke, an image of a massive whale-like creature appeared on screen.

"To be more specific, this is the last of the Star Whales. When we were trying to build Starship UK, we didn't have time to build an engine. The Earth was burning. Our children were crying. Then, like a miracle, the Star Whale came from the sky. We captured it, and use it as our engine.

Now, you have a choice to make. If you choose forget, you will forget everything you just learned. If you choose protest, the Star Whale will be released, and the ship will likely fall apart. We will all die. I leave the decision to you. I am truly sorry for what we have done, but there was no other way."

The screen switched off, leaving a thick silence in its wake.

"You watch this every ten years, sir. And every year you choose to forget." Rookwoulde explained sadly.

"This is almost the same video you saw, Prussia." the Doctor said lowly.

"Vhy...vhy vould I choose to forget somezing zat terrible? I don't remember doing it at all." Prussia gasped, his eyes wide.

"Because you knew I would have to make an impossible choice, and you wanted to spare me from that. You should _never _have done that. After this, you're going home." the Doctor was absolutely livid.

"Vhat? But, I don't...don't even remember doing it...Doctor..." Prussia squeaked.

"That doesn't matter. It's not your place to decide things for me. It's mine." the Doctor walked up to the laser and began to mess with it, leaving an upset and dejected Prussia to watch in stunned silence.

"What are you doing?" England asked shakily.

"I'm going to send a jolt so powerful into the Whale's brain that it renders it numb to the pain. It won't feel it." the Doctor said bitterly.

"Y-you can't..." Prussia whined desperately, guilt chewing at his insides.

"What other choice do I have!? I choose to forget and let the last of a beautiful, old race endure endless agony? Or do I protest and kill everyone on this ship?" the Doctor roared, glaring bitterly at the startled country.

Prussia couldn't respond, and the Doctor went back to work. He sighed and looked over to where Anne was standing. He blinked as he noticed something. The girl had tears running down her face, and was whimpering softly. One of the nearby vines, part of the Star Whale, reached over and caressed her cheek in a comforting way. She flinched, then smiled slowly and patted it.

Prussia's eyes widened as he thought about everything he had seen that day, and words raced through his mind feverishly.

'Our children were crying...won't eat the children...came when the Earth was burning...adults want to make sure the crying children are okay...children crying! That's it!' he jumped up and ran past the Doctor, who spun to watch him.

Without a second thought Prussia slammed his hand down on the "Protest" button.

"NO!" the Doctor screamed, but it was too late.

The ship shuddered, and everyone clung to whatever or whoever was nearby. They expected it to fall apart as the Star Whale fled: but nothing happened. The shuddering stopped, and the laser turned off. The Whale's brain was still visible from the hole in the floor, and they all noticed that the ship had not even slowed down. On the contrary, it had _sped up_.

"We're going faster..." England muttered incredulously.

"Vell, ja, vhen you stop _torturing _ze pilot! Kesesese!" Prussia proclaimed proudly.

"You didn't have to capture ze Star Vhale! It _volunteered_! It vas the last of its race. Zat loneliness made it old and very, very kind. Vhen your planet burned, it came to help out of kindness. It couldn't stand to see your _children crying. _It volunteered to help you because it hurt to see und hear such pain." Prussia turned to look into the Doctor's brown eyes.

"Vhen you're zat old, und zat kind, und zat lonely...you can't just sit back und vatch children cry..." he nearly whispered.

The Doctor gave him a small smile and relaxed.

"Well, we'll never torture it again. We'll take good care of the Star Whale. And find something else to feed it." Rookwoulde said with a relieved smile.

"Ja, good idea." Prussia sighed with a light chuckle.

Later, the Doctor and Prussia stood outside the TARDIS, watching as people walked around, completely unaware of what had happened below. Prussia cast the Doctor a worried look and waited . After a moment, the Time Lord broke the quiet.

"You could have killed everyone on this ship." he said slowly.

"I knew ze Star Vhale vouldn't leave." Prussia replied.

"How?"

"Because it's not ze only old, kind, lonely last-of-its-kind zat I know vho can't stand to see children crying."

Prussia smiled and opened his arms for a hug, and after a moment the Doctor complied.

"Doctor?"

"Yeah?"

"Gonna make me leave?'

"No."

"Good. Doctor?"

"Yeah?"

"Gotcha." Prussia smirked over the man's shoulder playfully.

The Doctor smiled softly and pulled the strange, wonderful country closer into the hug.

"Yeah. Gotcha."

**Auugh, I love this so much! And NO, I'm not shipping the Doctor and Prussia. They're bros. Timey-Whimey Bros. That's what I'm calling them. Anyway, I hope you liked all of this! Thanks for reading! Allons-y!**

**~Silver**


	4. The Butterfly Dream

**Chapter Four **

**The Butterfly Dream**

Prussia sighed and sat back on the couch, sipping at a mug of beer and looking out the window. Birds flew around and chirped merrily, and he found a small smile crossing his face. It had been a long time since he had been able to relax like this, and he had to admit that he rather liked it. He had been so busy helping Germany out with paperwork and the like that he hadn't had much time to himself. His grin widened as his tiny pet canary, Gilbird, flew onto his outstretched hand and chirped at him.

"Kesese! You're so cute!" he cooed softly at the tiny yellow bird, which began peeping at him in reply.

He leaned his head back and closed his vivid red eyes, relaxing further. He soon found himself being stirred from a light doze by a strange, and wonderfully familiar, whirring sound. He sat in complete stillness for a moment, wondering if it had been part of a dreamed memory. Still hearing the sound, the excited man leapt to his feet and ran for the front door. He threw it open and ran outside just in time to see his favorite blue police box materializing in front of his house. A huge grin mushroomed across his face: the TARDIS!

He walked up to the box and knocked on the door cheekily, waiting for his longtime friend to open up. After a moment the door swung open, and a familiar face greeted him with a confused look that immediately changed into a pleased smile.

"Prussia! It's been a while!" the Doctor proclaimed loudly, stepping out of the TARDIS and pulling him into a quick hug.

"Ja! Five years, to be exact. Vhat are you doing here?" Prussia asked.

"Ah, well, I always visit my friends." the Doctor replied with a slightly nervous smile.

"Liar. The TARDIS brought you here, didn't it?"

"...yeah."

Prussia chuckled and began walking down the street, the Doctor falling into step beside him.

"So, how have things been for you since I dropped you off?" the Time Lord asked.

"About as vell as zey could be, I guess. I've been helping Germany out a lot lately. It's been really boring compared to ze adventures ve've had, zough." Prussia huffed in annoyance.

"Ah, you're doing well enough here." the Doctor smiled and sat on a nearby park bench, Prussia sitting next to him.

"So, vhy did ze TARDIS bring you here?" the curious country asked.

"I'm not sure yet. It's weird." the Doctor sighed, then yawned.

"Are you alright?" Prussia asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Yeah, just really...tired all...of a sudden..."

Prussia suddenly noticed that he was tired as well. Hell, he was _exhausted_. He tried to stay awake, but for some reason couldn't seem to fight sleep. He nodded off rather quickly, slumping against the Doctor's side just as the other man fell asleep as well.

Prussia awoke with a shallow gasp, groaning at the feeling of cold metal pressed against his face. He grumbled and pulled himself to a sitting position, looking around. He was inside the TARDIS, and the Doctor was staggering to his feet as well. Had all of that...been just a dream?

"Vhat ze Hell just happened?" he asked groggily, standing up to join the Doctor at the TARDIS console.

"We must have hit some kind of patch in space that made us both fall asleep all of a sudden." the Doctor explained somewhat nervously.

"I had ze veirdest dream. I vas helping Germany do papervork, zen I took a break. Und you showed up, und-" Prussia was interrupted.

"We walked to a little park and sat in a bench and fell asleep." the Doctor finished.

"Ja! Did ve have ze same dream? Veird."

"Ah, must have been a psychic link caused by the patch. It happens. We should be fine now."

Prussia was about to respond, but found himself feeling sleepy again. He staggered and leaned against the wall, shaking his head. He knitted his eyebrows as he thought he heard birds chirping, and could tell from the look on his friend's face that he was having the same experience.

"Doctor...do you hear birds...?" he managed to whisper before crumpling to the ground, asleep.

Prussia jerked awake, leaning away from the Doctor's waking form. They were once again sitting on the park bench, and birds were chirping in the trees above them.

"Ze dream again? But it feels so real..." he mumbled in confusion.

"It might be real...I don't know what's going on yet, but we had best be very careful..." the Doctor replied, standing and looking around.

"Hey, East!"

Prussia and the Doctor turned to see a tell, muscular man with blue eyes and slicked back blonde hair running toward them. Prussia grinned widely as he stopped in front of them.

"Hey, Vest! Zis is mein friend ze Doctor! Doctor, zis is mein little bruder Germany." Prussia introduced happily.

"Nice to meet you." Germany greeted with a small smile.

"Likewise." the Doctor replied.

"So, vhat's up, Vest?" Prussia asked with a curious gleam in his eyes.

"America heard about zis supposedly haunted old house zat he vants everyone to see. Japan, Italy und I vanted you to come vith us. Your friend can come too if he vants." Germany said quickly, and Prussia smirked.

"Ja, sounds cool! Vhat do you zink, Doctor?"

"I think we should be...really careful..." the Doctor swayed a bit, and Prussia knew why. He felt that irresistible fatigue creep into him, and his mind went blank before he hit the ground.

Prussia sat up with a loud curse and rubbed the place where he had hit his head when he fell asleep. They were in the TARDIS again, and he was already getting annoyed with this.

"Vhat ze Hell is going on?" he growled angrily.

"I thought you'd _never _ask."

Prussia and the Doctor looked up to see a strange man standing on the balcony of the second floor of the TARDIS. He wore an old looking brown coat, a pair of gray slacks with suspenders, a cream colored shirt, and a red bow tie. He had mischievous gray eyes and wispy gray hair, and wore an amused look across his visage.

"Who are you?" the Doctor asked incredulously: it was impossible for someone to break into the TARDIS, especially in deep space.

The man smiled, then vanished. Prussia gasped when he reappeared a few feet away from them.

"Well, look at you~!" he nearly sang, observing the Doctor with an expression full of hate and malice.

"That tacky coat of yours belongs in a thrift shop, old man! And that spiky hair style died with your planet. Oooh, tender subject? Yes." the man vanished again, only to reappear walking down the steps onto the floor they were on.

"Well, you call yourself the Time Lord. So let's call me: the Dream Lord. I'm here to play a game with you two. You see, here's how it goes. One world is dream, and the other is reality. You have to decide which is which and...oh, but wait? You two look tired. You're not falling asleep on me? How rude!" he taunted as the two fell to the ground.

Just before they nodded off they heard the Dream Lord chuckle and ask,

"Or are you waking up?"

Prussia jerked awake and shot up, looking panicked. He found himself sitting in the lobby of a very large mansion, the Doctor by his side. Germany, Japan, Italy, France, Canada, America, China, England, and Russia stood around them, watching them carefully.

"Vhat happened?" Prussia groaned, standing up.

"You und ze Doctor passed out, so I brought you here vhere everyone else vas. Ve're inside zat mansion I mentioned. Ze haunted one." Germany explained as China helped the Doctor to his feet.

"Yeah dudes! This is gonna be awesome, broskis! Let's check this place out!" America shouted enthusiastically.

"Should we split up and look around, or all go together, da?" Russia asked.

"We should split up to cover more ground." England offered.

"Ve~! I want to-a go with Germany!" Italy shouted happily.

"Fine, we'll split up. Let's meet back here in an hour, oui?" France asked with his "charming" smile turned to the Doctor.

"Da. Sounds good to me. Let's go." Russia was the first to leave, and the others followed suit, leaving Prussia and the Doctor alone in the foyer.

"Finally, I thought they'd never leave. Now we can get back to our game." the Dream Lord suddenly appeared between them, and Prussia jumped in surprise with a small yelp.

"Gah! Don't do zat!" he growled.

"Quit whining. I swear, of all the people the Doctor has _collected_, I feel the most sorry for you. You think you're his friend." the Dream Lord chuckled.

"Vhat?"

"The Doctor doesn't have friends. He only has helpers. Companions. _Tools_."

"Stop it." the Doctor growled sternly.

"Right, back to our game. There are two worlds. One real, one fake, both feeling very real. There will be a deadly danger in each. If you die in the dream, you wake up in the real world. Ask me what happens if you die in reality."

"Vhat happens?" Prussia took the bait.

"You die, stupid. That's why it's called reality. So, you have to choose between the two worlds. Choose carefully." the Dream Lord smirked as the Doctor glared at him.

"I know who you are. Only one person could hate me this much." he whispered, and the Dream Lord simply glared back and vanished.

"Stay close, Prussia. We have to be very careful from here on. And keep your eyes open for anything suspicious." the Doctor warned, looking around carefully.

"Ja. Vho is he, Doctor?" Prussia asked nervously.

The Doctor ignored him and started walking toward one of the rooms in the large mansion, and Prussia followed hurriedly. They could hear the voices and footsteps of the others looking around the house. The atmosphere of the house was very eerie, and Prussia had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. His suspicious were confirmed a moment later when they heard frantic shouting from another room, and the two ran to find the source of the sound. They were startled to find the America, Russia, and China being stared down by a strange gray creature with massive black eyes that seemed empty and soulless.

"Vhat ze Hell is zat zing!?" Prussia yelped.

"This world's deadly danger, courtesy of the Dream Lord." the Doctor hissed, watching as the creature turned and ran up a flight of stairs.

"Hey! Vait!" Prussia called after it, and started chasing it. He felt that familiar grogginess come over him, and hadn't even made it up the stairs before he fell asleep.

The first thing Prussia noticed when he woke in the TARDIS was that it was cold: almost unbearably so. He shuddered and stood, wrapping his arms around himself.

"Shiza it's colder zan a vitch during a catholic sermon in here! Can you turn ze heat up?" Prussia asked.

The Doctor fiddled with a few switches on the TARDIS console, but nothing happened. He sighed and shook his head in frustration.

"No, nothing's working. The Dream Lord has killed the power to the TARDIS. We're drifting in deep space. Get a coat." the irritated Time Lord pointed to one of the many rooms of the TARDIS.

Prussia ran inside and snatched a black coat off of a hanger, returning to find the Doctor pacing around the console.

"Vhat do ve do now?" Prussia asked quietly.

"We need to figure out which one is the dream, and which one is real. Which one feels real to you?" the Doctor asked frantically.

"Zey both do. I can't tell vitch is vitch..."Prussia sighed and looked around for any hints as to what was going on.

The Doctor groaned and walked to the door of the TARDIS. If he could see where they were, maybe he could figure this out before things got really serious. He wanted to be done with this and the Dream Lord as soon as possible. They were in more danger than Prussia could fathom. He threw the door to the TARDIS open, glad that it had a force field that would keep them safe as the blackness of deep space met his searching eyes. But that wasn't all that he saw.

He gasped as a massive star burned in the distance, and it was clear that the TARDIS was being pulled toward it by its gravitational pull. That wasn't the only problem, however.

"That star...it's burning _cold_. It's creating cold fire." he whispered in disbelief.

"Vhat? How is zat possible?" Prussia gazed out at the whitish-blue mass of cold-burning gases.

"I don't know..."

"Ooh, and doesn't that just kill you?"

The Dream Lord appeared between them, gazing out at the strange, impossible star.

"A cold star, and the arrogant, all-knowing Doctor doesn't know why. I bet it really ruffles your jimmies, right?" he taunted before clapping his hands together and walking a few steps away from them.

"So you know your deadly dangers. In one world, a dead TARDIS drifting toward a cold star. In the other, trapped in a mansion with a murderous Oni. One is real, one is fake, but which is which? I suggest you find out soon." the Dream Lord smirked before vanishing once again.

"Gott, he's starting to get on mein nerves." Prussia snorted.

"Ignore him and focus on figuring this mess out. From the looks of things we have about 24 minutes before we drift into that cold star. Which isn't a problem." the Doctor muttered, looking around anxiously.

"Und vhy...not...?" Prussia groaned as tiredness started to drag him down.

"Because...we'll have...frozen to death by then..."

Prussia and the Doctor woke at the same time and sat up. The Doctor was lying on the floor in the foyer, whilst Prussia was pulling himself off of the steps. He groaned and walked to the Doctor's side, looking around with concern in his red eyes.

"Vhere is everyone? Und zat Oni zing?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know. We should look around and see if we can find anything." the Doctor answered him grimly.

Prussia nodded and followed him as he walked up the stairs, keeping close and looking for any signs of anyone. The mansion had gone silent, which was definitely not a good sign. Worry gnawed at Prussia's stomach. Not only were he and the Doctor in danger: his friends and brother were as well. He couldn't live with himself if anything happened to Germany, especially after he had promised his father Germania that he would protect him.

The Doctor was worried as well. He had promised Prussia that he would keep him alive while they traveled together. Now, he wasn't sure he could do it. It was nearly impossible to tell which of the two worlds was the real one, and this bothered him. The Dream Lord was clever. Of course, knowing him, he would have to be. _There's only one person who could set all of this up and get onto the TARDIS undetected._ He thought with a pained expression.

"Doctor!"

Prussia's shout shook the Doctor from his thoughts, and he was startled to see the Oni standing only a few feet away from them. It stared at them with empty eyes, tilting its bulbous head slightly to one side. Prussia winced as he noticed a sticky red substance drying to its strange hands, dripping onto the wooden floor with light sounds.

"Vhat did you do? Vhos blood is zat?" he shouted angrily.

"You...WoN'T...EscApE..." the Oni whispered, taking a step toward them.

"RUN!" the Doctor yelled and grabbed Prussia's arm, dragging the furious and terrified nation behind him as he ran.

Prussia was quick to obey, and ran as quickly as his legs would carry him. The Oni followed them, its feet making heavy sounds as it gave chase. Both men felt themselves growing tired again, and Prussia cursed loudly.

"Zis really isn't ze time for a nap!" he shouted desperately.

"You shouldn't fight sleep, boys. It only makes it worse." the Dream Lord suddenly appeared next to them, vanishing just as quickly.

The Doctor threw a nearby door open and stumbled inside, slamming it shut after Prussia had joined him. He barely managed to lock the door before slipping down the door's surface and falling to the floor. Prussia fell next to him with a loud thud.

When the two awoke, the TARDIS was nearly frozen over. Small icicles dangled off of the roof and console, and their bodies were coated in a thin layer of frost. Both men climbed painfully to their feet and dusted themselves off, glancing out as the cold star drew ever closer.

"We have minutes before we freeze, Prussia." the Doctor warned.

Prussia walked back into the closet that he had gotten his coat from, returning moments later with two striped cloth ponchos. He tossed one to the Doctor and pulled the other one over his head. The Doctor put his on as well and shot Prussia a curious look.

"Ponchos?" he asked.

"If we're gonna die, let's die looking like a Mexican Mariachi band." Prussia smirked softly, trying and failing to mask his anxiety.

"Good choice. Your bodies will look great in those." the Dream Lord assessed from his perch on the balcony above.

"Vho are you? Ze Doctor von't tell me, und he alvays tell me vho people are." Prussia growled.

"Oh, so you think you're the only one the Doctor ever tells things to? You think he trusts you? If that's the case, then what's his name?" the Dream Lord asked.

Prussia was silent: he couldn't respond. He didn't know.

The Dream Lord cast him a satisfied smile before disappearing once again. Prussia and the Doctor stood in silence, and soon sleep overcame them once again. They fell once again, not fighting.

When Prussia woke, it was to a horrible sight.

He and the Doctor had somehow ended up in the foyer where they had started, and all of the countries were gathered around them in a circle. Lying on the ground. In pools of their own blood.

Dead.

A gurgling, agonized sob bubbled out of Prussia's throat as he looked at all of them: then his eyes fell onto Germany. His brother's form was limp and splayed out, lying on his back, his blue eyes empty and dull. Prussia screamed and ran to him, falling to his knees and cradling his brother's body in his arms. Hot tears streamed down his face, and he cried more than he had since the Death of his beloved leader, Old Man Fritz.

The Doctor watched with a miserable expression, guilt bubbling within. He hated death more than almost anything. What he hated the most was that he couldn't have helped them. He wasn't startled when Prussia looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"Save zem. Save mein bruder und friends, Doctor. Please. You alvays save zem." he begged as he had never begged before.

"Not always." the Doctor whispered.

"Then vhat's ze point of you?" Prussia hissed, rage flashing briefly in his eyes before being replaced with grief.

After a few minutes of crying, Prussia sniffled and climbed to his feet, giving the Doctor an intense, determined look.

"It's zis one." he muttered.

"What?"

"It's zis one. Ze dream."

"...how do you know?"

Prussia sighed and looked down at his boots.

"I promised mein Vati zat I vould take care of Vest, und I failed. He's dead. If zis _is _ze real vorld...zen I don't vant it." he replied almost meekly.

The Doctor nodded slowly, looking over Prussia's shoulder. Prussia turned to see the Oni watching them, the Dream Lord at its side. The Dream Lord wore a serious expression as the Oni approached them.

"You...WOn'T...EscaPe..." it whispered.

"Ja, ve know. Get on vith it." Prussia growled, closing his eyes.

The Oni rushed forward...

And Prussia woke with a shuddering gasp to the feeling of the TARDIS heating up. He looked up to see the Dream Lord standing at the TARDIS console, flicking switches and turning knobs.

"Let's get you away from that cold star and warm this place up." he sighed.

Prussia and the Doctor watched him continue before he turned to look at them with a resigned expression.

"I have been defeated. I will withdraw. Goodbye." he nodded before vanishing for the last time.

The Doctor immediately jumped to his feet and began madly flicking switches on the console. Prussia walked to his side and watched curiously.

"Vhat are you doing?" he asked softly.

"Blowing up the TARDIS." the Doctor replied, jumping to the other side of the console to mess with a dial.

Prussia blinked in shock.

"VHAT!?"

"The Dream Lord withdrew too easily. I know who he is, and he would never do that. Both worlds are dreams." the Doctor grabbed the final lever that he would need to pull.

"Are you sure?" Prussia asked, scared.

"Nope! Allons-y!" the Doctor threw the switch.

Prussia walked calmly down the steps to the console area of the TARDIS, greeting the Doctor with a sleepy grumble. The Doctor stood at the door to the TARDIS, holding several tiny glowing specks in the palm of one hand. Prussia leaned against the console and nodded at them.

"Vhat are zose?" he asked.

"Space dust-ish stuff. They feed off of psychic energy and project it. They must have blown into the TARDIS." the Doctor blew gently on them, and they fluttered out the door.

"So zat vas ze Dream Lord?" Prussia questioned with a small smile.

"No. Didn't I tell you? The Dream Lord was me. All of my darkness, projected by the dust." the Doctor replied almost cheerily.

Prussia processed this for a minute, then knit his brow.

"Vait...all of zose avful zings he said about you...you don't really believe zem, do you?" he asked with a sad expression.

The Doctor cast Prussia a sad smile before brushing past him and walking up the stairs, disappearing into the second floor of his beloved TARDIS.

**AUUUUUGH! SO SAD! The person who hates the Doctor the most in all of existence is the Doctor himself! :'( MOFFAT! Anyway, what can we expect in further chapters? Hints: EXTERMINATE, DELETE, count the shadows, don't blink, are you my mummy?, fear her, burn with me, and finally...CAN YOU HEAR THEM? THE DRUMS? I hope you're as excited to read as I am to write! Allons-y~!**

**~Silver**


	5. Time War Scars

**Chapter Five**

**Time War Scars**

The Doctor ran about the console of the TARDIS in his usual haphazard fashion, turning knobs and pulling levers. He wore a cheery grin across his face, and Prussia couldn't help but emulate him. His bizarre cheerfulness was as contagious as the most fatal disease, and only seeing that classic smile vanish could cure it.

"Vhere are ve off to now, Doctor?" Prussia asked, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms over his chest.

"No idea. The TARDIS is taking us somewhere all on her own. I'm just trying to stabilize the flight." the Doctor chirped back.

The TARDIS shook and rattled, and Prussia had to grab hold of a rail to keep from falling.

"Ja, nice job keeping her stable, captain." he snorted.

The TARDIS stopped before the Doctor could reply, and he gave Prussia an excited grin as he rushed to the monitor to see where and when they were. He wrinkled his brow a bit as he read it aloud.

"Montana, United States, year 2007? That's random, and no fun at all! Why did the TARDIS bring us here?"

Prussia walked to the door and jiggled the knob a bit, grinning over his shoulder at the Time Lord. He was getting the hang of this "Time Travel" thing. The Doctor went places, helped people, then left without once being thanked. The nation had decided that if the Doctor could do that, then certainly the awesome Prussia could, too.

"Only one vay to find out. How you say, allons-y?" he asked.

The Doctor grinned.

"Allons-y!"

Both men rushed out of the relative safety of the wonderful blue box, stopping to look around. They found themselves in a massive room full of glass display cases. Strange bits of metal, images of what had to be aliens, and even the occasional alien arm or head were mounted within. The Doctor gave a low whistle as he began browsing the cases, looking into each one with a mildly curious expression. Prussia followed, his mouth slightly open at the sight of all of the strange things.

"It looks like we're in an underground museum..." the Doctor paused in front of a large chunk of polished metal that looked like a head.

"Vhat is zis?" Prussia asked, tapping the glass with the tip of a slender, black-gloved finger.

"An old enemy. Come on. We need to find out why we're here."

"You aren't the only ones wondering."

The two turned sharply to see a man in a business suit walking quickly toward them, several armed guards behind him. The guards all pointed their guns at the intruders, and the Doctor groaned.

"I really hate guns..." he sighed.

"Yeah? Well, I hate mysterious people wandering around my museum without my knowing. Who are you and why are you here?" the businessman asked, his eyebrows knit over severe brown eyes.

"I'm the Doctor, and this is my friend Prussia. We were just having a look around." the Doctor said quickly, glaring with disdain at the guns.

"Just _looking around_? Do you have any idea what you're seeing?" the man asked slightly less angrily.

"Ah, well...this is a Cyberman head. That over there is a particle gun, though it looks like you've broken it. Slitheen arm over in that case..." the Doctor stopped and offered a smirk.

The man lifted his eyebrows in surprise, then motioned for the guards to lower their guns.

"Sorry about that. My name is Henry Von Statten. I'm an avid...collector...of alien technology, and anything else I can get hold of. I didn't realize we had a couple of experts visiting." the man stated with a somewhat eager look.

"Just one expert, sorry. I'm more of a trainee." Prussia admitted quickly, not wanting to get pulled into whatever this odd man had in mind.

"Fair enough. I've got someone upstairs that is in the same boat. I'll have you escorted up to meet him. I need some help from you, Doctor." before Prussia could protest, a couple of the armed guards was leading him toward an elevator.

The Doctor watched him go, then returned his attention to Von Statten. The man was watching him eagerly, and the Doctor could sense trouble almost immediately.

"I'm glad you've shown up, Doctor. Would you like to see the prize of my collection?" he asked with a haughty smirk.

"That depends on what it is." the Doctor replied carefully.

"It's my only living specimen. Are you interested now?"

The Doctor blinked. If there was a living creature trapped in this museum, that might be why the TARDIS had brought them here. It might have picked up a distress signal. Whatever it was, he had to find out what was trapped down here.

"Quite."

Von Statten smirked again and lead the Doctor to an elevator.

Prussia grunted as he was shoved roughly into a very messy room, with crates of what looked like very odd weapons crammed into every available space. A boy who looked no older than 16 stood at a table in the center of the room, looking over what looked like a gun of some sort. He was a good bit shorter than the country, with short brown hair and hazel eyes. He looked up as the guards slammed the doors shut behind the curious country, and lifted an eyebrow at him.

"Who are you?" he asked softly.

"I'm ze awesome Prussia! Mein friend ze Doctor is being shown somezing by zat rich-looking guy, Von Statten." Prussia offered a garbled explanation, walking to the boy's side.

The boy seemed to relax a bit, and set the gun he had been looking over aside. He offered Prussia his hand, and the MUCH older man shook it heartily with his signature smirk.

"Nice to meet you, Prussia. I'm Adam." he greeted him with a small smile.

"Kesesesese! So, vhat are you doing up here?" Prussia asked, looking around at the mess.

"Oh. Well, Von Statten has me here trying to figure out what all of this stuff is. Most of it looks like weaponry of some sort. What exactly are you doing here?" Adam returned the question.

"Vell, your boss vas taking ze Doctor downstairs to see somezing, und he sent me up here."

"Downstairs? Maybe he thinks your friend can tell him what it is."

"Hm? Vhat _vhat _is?"

Adam looked around to see if there were any signs of anyone interrupting them. Seeing nothing, he walked to a monitor and started messing with the buttons.

"It'll take me a minute to pull it up, and all we can do it see and hear it. It really doesn't do much, just sits there." Adam grinned over his shoulder at the curious nation, who returned the grin and nodded.

The Doctor listened absently as Von Statten talked about the specimen he had contained downstairs. The Time Lord wasn't really interested in what the collector had to say. All he really wanted to do was get whatever he was holding captive free from its prison.

"We found it a few years ago in a crater, on fire. It was screaming, but once we cooled it down it stopped making noise. It only screams when we...encourage it. Maybe you can tell us what it is." Von Statten didn't notice the coldness in the Doctor's eyes as he spoke.

The group soon came to a large set of thick steel doors, which led into a room with several monitors set up inside. Another set of thicker doors sat on the opposite wall, and several people in lab coats observed the monitors. One wore what looked like a massive drill over his shoulder, and shot the Doctor a cruel grin as he passed.

Von Statten paused and nudged one of the scientists.

"Anything?" he asked quickly.

"No, sir. It's just sitting there." the woman replied just as hurriedly.

"Fine. Open the door. This man is going to have a look for us."

The woman pressed several keys on her keyboard, and the doors slid open after several loud clicks. The Doctor walked inside carefully, and wasn't surprised when the doors slid shut behind him. Von Statten walked to the monitor that displayed what was going on inside, and waved at everyone to be quiet. He was eager to see and hear whatever went on inside.

The Doctor looked around the small room carefully, taking note of the large metal pipes laying on the floor. His eyes were led to a kind of small platform, upon which the life form he was searching for was heavily chained. He froze when he saw it, and his blood ran as cold as arctic spring water.

"N-no...it can't be...that's impossible!" he shouted in horror, trembling in fear and shock.

Before him sat his worst enemy, the most sinister and evil creature to ever be created. It's body was completely encased in a thick metal armor, somewhat cone shaped with a domed top. Several rows of dome-looking nodules ran up the sides, and it had two arms made from thin, but sturdy, piping. An eye stalk rose from its domed top, and it lifted at his voice. Its gaze seemed to burn into the Doctor's very soul, and it attempted to roll at him, waving one of its little arms around frantically.

"EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" the creature screamed with pure hate in its grating metallic voice.

The Doctor flinched as the creature lifted one of its arms at him, waiting for it to shoot him with the laser it had been built with and kill him. He was happily surprised when nothing happened, and a victorious grin crossed his face.

"Hah! You're systems are down, Dalek! You can't do anything to me! Doesn't that infuriate you? Hah!" he cackled almost madly in glee and skipped closer to the creature.

"MY KIND WILL EXTERMINATE YOU, DOCTOR!" the Dalek screamed back at him, pulling desperately against its chains.

"There is no _your kind_! The entire Dalek race is gone, destroyed! And you know what happened? Who ended your entire race?" the Doctor leaned closer, "_I did._" he hissed at it.

"LIES!" the Dalek cried out.

"Really? You don't believe that. You know it's true, Dalek. And now I can _finish what I started_."

The Doctor quickly snatched a pipe off of the ground and began beating the Dalek across its domed top with it, crying out in rage and pain with each swing. Hatred and anger fueled every powerful blow the pipe landed on the Dalek's tough armor, and it screamed loudly as the Doctor continued to swing at it.

The Doctor hardly took notice of the doors behind him sliding open, and it took several guards to hold him down and wrench the now bent pipe from his hands. He screamed in frustration and struggled to break free, his eyes wide and almost mad in his rage.

"You don't understand! That creature is dangerous! It has to be destroyed immediately!" he cried out as the guards dragged him out of the room.

Von Statten nodded at them, and they left the room with the struggling Time Lord in tow. He smirked and walked into the Dalek's room, grinning as the creature watched him.

"So you can talk. And now I know your name..._Dalek_." he turned on his heel and motioned for the man with the drill to join him.

"Make it talk again, with whatever means necessary." he commanded before following his guards out of the chamber.

The man grinned and started the drill up, wrenching it into a small gap under the Dalek's armor. The creature's agonized screams didn't penetrate the thick steel walls, but they provided the man with enough encouragement to press down harder. A grin crossed his face as the Dalek screamed louder: he loved his job.

Prussia sighed as he watched Adam work with the monitor. It was clear that the boy didn't often check in on whatever was downstairs. Of course, he would probably get into trouble if he was caught, so it made sense. A low beep caught the country's attention, and he sat up as the monitor blinked to life.

He and Adam both flinched as they heard the sound echoing from the chamber displayed on the screen. There was a man inside the room, using a drill to torture what looked like a robotic sort of creature. The creature screamed loudly in pain, and Prussia grit his teeth angrily. He had developed a deep sense of what he was supposed to do while traveling with the Doctor, and saving creatures being tortured was one of those things.

"Can you get me into zat room?" Prussia asked, his voice hard and steely.

"Yeah, I have a pass." Adam replied quickly, pulling a card key from his pocket.

"Come on zen!"

Prussia took off running, Adam close on his heels.

It took them a few minutes to get down to the floor where the creature was being held, as the elevator wasn't very fast. Once they arrived, they rushed into the room. Prussia ran to the door as Adam showed the scientists his pass.

"Open zis damn door!" Prussia snapped at one of them, who quickly complied.

He rushed into the room and stormed up to the man inside, who had stopped drilling to see who had entered. Prussia snarled and drew his arm back, balling his hand into a fist before smashing it squarely into the man's jaw. The man grunted and crumpled to the ground, holding his jaw in agony and swearing. Prussia kicked him roughly in the stomach to prevent him from getting up before turning his attention to the creature chained to the platform.

The creature had fallen silent as the drilling had ended, and it sat completely still as a very cautious Prussia approached. He looked it over carefully, not really sure what it was. He and the Doctor had been to many places on their adventures, but this was something completely new. New often meant dangerous as far as the Doctor was concerned, but Prussia still felt sorry for the mass of charred metal before him. He cleared his throat, hoping the creature would respond. It did nothing, so he started to speak.

"Hello? Uhm, are you hurt? Are you in pain?" he asked carefully.

The creature didn't stir, and he tried again.

"I'm Prussia. I have a friend vho can help you. His name's ze Doctor."

That seemed to catch its attention, as its eye stalk shot up and it screamed a reply at him.

"YES." its voice was harsh and metallic.

"Vhat?" Prussia jumped back, startled.

"I AM IN PAIN. THEY TORTURE ME. THEY FEAR ME. DO YOU FEAR ME?" the creature asked loudly.

"Ahn...vell, no. I'm not scared. Is zere someone vho can get you? Are zere more of your kind?" Prussia's voice was a little less than confident, but the alien didn't seem to notice.

"I AM ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE. I AM DYING, AND SHALL DIE ALONE. BUT I AM GLAD THAT BEFORE I DIED, I MET A HUMAN WHO WAS NOT AFRAID." the creature lowered its eye stalk sadly and went still.

Prussia looked at the poor creature sadly, his eyes watering up a bit. It was the last of its kind, just like the Doctor. It had to be just as sad and lonely as the aged Time Lord pretended not to be. He smiled softly and reached out, laying a comforting hand on the creature's domed top. He hissed in pain and pulled his hand back quickly, grimacing. The creature's shell was scalding hot, and had burned him. Unfortunately, that wasn't the only thing his touch had elicited.

"BIOLOGICAL SIGNATURE OBTAINED! DNA REPLICATION ACTIVATED! RESTORE! RESTORE! RESTORE!" the creature shuddered as the dents in its shell began to repair.

Prussia shouted and stumbled back as the doors behind him opened, and Adam ran into the room. One look at the creature made him go nearly as pale as the startled country.

"We have to get out of here, it's using your DNA to repair itself! Everything will be working again, including the weapons system!" he shouted.

Prussia nodded, and the two scrambled out of the room. The man who had been drilling climbed shakily to his feet. He scooped up his drill and took a few wary steps toward the screaming Dalek, jumping at the chains around it snapped. The Dalek stopped screaming and rotated its dome to stare directly at the man, its insides burning with energy and hate.

"EXTERMINATE!"

Von Statten watched with a satisfied smile as the struggling man was secured tightly to the X-ray machine. The only was this "Doctor" could know so much about aliens was if he was one himself. Von Statten couldn't believe his luck. Not only did he have a second live specimen to add to his collection: this new piece could help him decipher what everything else was! But first, he had to see if he looked as human inside as he did out.

"Start the machine." Von Statten commanded airily, and a scientist flipped a switch on a device in his hand.

The Doctor cried out in agony as an X-ray surged through him. Without even the protection of a shirt, the beam of energy caused him immense pain. The pain left as quickly as it had appeared, as the machine was turned off. Von Statten looked over the image produced on a screen on the nearby panel, and he grinned like a child at a candy store.

"Ooh, _two hearts_! That's new! Let's see what other surprises you have up your sleeve, Doctor!" the man crowed happily.

"We don't have time! That Dalek has to be destroyed! It's dangerous, a killing machine!" the Doctor yelled in frustration, pulling at his restraints.

"It won't get out of the chamber. Those walls are reinforced steel, and it requires a six-digit pass code to open the door from the inside."

"It will still find a way out! Daleks are incredibly intelligent!"

"Pffft. Even if it does, I can reason with it."

"You don't understand. Daleks have two emotions: hatred and anger. You can't reason with it. It must be destroyed now before it's too late!"

Von Statten was about to reply, but a buzz from his walkie-talkie cut him off. He sighed and snatched it off of his waist, answering with an impatient grunt.

"What is it?"

"It's the Dalek, sir! It's gotten out of the restraints and killed Carter! Adam and that visitor with the white hair were in there, but managed to get out before it could get to them." a panicked voice yelled back.

The Doctor groaned, muttering something about keeping Prussia on a short leash, but Von Statten ignored him.

"Put the screen up on the monitor in the X-ray room." he commanded angrily.

A moment later, the image of the Doctor's X-ray was replaced with a live feed from the Dalek's chamber. The creature rolled up to a panel on the wall and lifted its plunger-like arm, smashing the cup of it into the panel. It sat still for a few moments, and Von Statten knitted his brow in confusion.

"What is it doing to the wifi port?" he asked quietly.

"It's downloading the internet, you idiot! That Dalek has just become the smartest creature on the planet!" the Doctor shouted back.

They both watched at the Dalek pulled away and rolled over to the door, laying its cupped appendage over the pass code pad. Von Statten smirked.

"It still can't get out. It doesn't know the pass code." he grinned victoriously.

"You fool. That thing can try a thousand codes a second. It will be out of there in mere minutes, and if you don't let me out, everyone on this planet is going to die." the Doctor snarled, watching the arrogant collector's face fall as numbers began to flash across the pass code pad. He grabbed the walkie-talkie and yelled into it.

"Get the civilians out of there, now! And stop that Dalek, but carefully! I want it alive, and not a scratch on that body armor!"

The scientists and guards nodded at their boss's panicked command, and two guards lead Prussia and Adam from the room. The door closed behind them just as the Dalek entered the correct pass code and rolled out of its steel prison. The guards still in the room began shooting at the creature, but the bullets didn't even reach it. They were stopped by some sort of energy field generated by the fully restored Dalek, and fell to the ground, useless. The Dalek lifted its arm and shot each person in the room one-by-one with a harsh blue laser, which reduced them to ash in seconds. It looked up into the camera the Doctor and Von Statten were watching from, staring for a moment before continuing out the door.

The Doctor growled and sat down at the computer in the room, looking over a map of the museum.

"We have to destroy that thing!" he hissed.

"No! I've spent too long researching it! We can try trapping it downstairs. There is a lock that even that thing can't get through a few floors up." Von Statten argued back.

"Prussia is still down there!"

"Adam has a cell phone! I'll call him and tell him to get past the 40th floor before we close the lock. The Dalek's chamber is on the 53rd floor. It'll be a run, but they have to make it!"

The Doctor nodded, and Von Statten dug his phone from his pocket.

Adam, Prussia, and the guards ran at full speed as the Dalek pursued them. It wasn't a very fast creature, but it was also a long distance fighter. Blue lasers buzzed past them as it shot at them. Adam's phone rang in his pocket, and he snatched it up as he ran and jammed it to his ear.

"Hello? This is a REALLY bad time for a chat!" he yelled, barely dodging a flash of blue.

"Listen! This is Von Statten, and the Doctor is with me. We're going to lock the downstairs area, and can only wait so long to do it. You guys have to get past the 40th floor before then, so hurry up! Got it?"

Adam yelped a "yes!" before hanging up. The others had heard what had been said, and all of them sped up as they reached the first flight of stairs. They reached the top just as the Dalek rolled into the bottom, lifting its eye stalk to stare at them. Prussia snickered down at it.

"Ha! Ze most evil zing in ze universe, defeated by a flight of stairs!" he taunted.

"Yeah! How are you gonna catch us if you can't climb?" Adam joined in: Prussia's foolish arrogance was infectious.

The Dalek stared up at them for a brief moment before yelling a reply.

"ELEVATE!"

The group watched in horror as it slowly lifted a few inches off the ground and began to hover up the stairs. Prussia hissed and started running again, the others hot on his heels.

"Shiza! I need to learn to keep mein big mouth shut!"

The group ran into an open room and were surprised to find dozens of armed guards at the ready, guns aimed at the entrance. They quickly ran past them, and the two guards who had been with them joined their comrades. Prussia and Adam continued running as fast as their burning legs would carry them, knowing that they didn't have much time before the lock had to be closed.

Back in the X-ray room, the Doctor and Von Statten watched as Prussia and Adam vanished off screen. They kept their attention firmly on the guards as the Dalek rolled almost casually into the room. The guards immediately started shooting at it, but none of the bullets even came close to bouncing off of its body armor. It lifted its arm and aimed at one of the water sprinklers, shooting it with a single laser and setting them off. Water rained down on the guards as they desperately tried to kill the threatening creature, and it turned to look directly into the screen. The Doctor gulped.

"It knows we're watching. It wants us to see this." he hissed quietly.

"EXTERMINATE!" the Dalek fired a single laser, and all hell broke loose.

The water raining down conducted the electrical pulse of the laser, sending a deadly burst of electricity into each of the guards. They screamed in agony and dropped their weapons, crumpling to the ground. They had all died, and the room was quiet as the Dalek returned its attention to the screen.

"YOU WILL WITNESS THIS!" it cried before rolling off screen.

Adam and Prussia ran as quickly as they could, trying to ignore the weariness that had long since settled over them. The Dalek was still chasing them, shrill cries of "EXTERMINATE!" echoing from not far behind them. Prussia's lungs burned, and he honestly had never been more terrified in his life. Just as they were running up another flight of stairs, Adam's phone rang again. The boy grabbed it and stuffed it into Prussia's hands, his only focus escape at the moment.

"Hallo?" Prussia managed to gasp.

"Prussia, hurry up! The gates are starting to close, and once they do, it will be too dangerous to open them again!" the Doctor's voice yelled desperately.

"There!" Adam shouted, pointing ahead.

Two massive steel gates were slowly sliding closed several yards ahead of them. Prussia and Adam sped up as they inched closer together, the Dalek's cries coming closer. They were nearly there...

The room fell silent as the rough clang of the doors closing echoed through the phone. The Doctor and Von Statten exchanged a quick look before staring hard at the screen in front of them. They could see that the Dalek was locked in the lower floors, but it didn't show any other life forms.

"Prussia...?" the Doctor asked quietly.

The Doctor heard a stifled sniff from the other end of the phone.

"I'm sorry, Doctor...I guess I'm getting old. Ve vere too slow..." Prussia replied softly, his voice giving evidence of tears.

"EXTERMINATE!" a loud cry rang out over the phone before the line went dead.

The Doctor stared at the monitor in shock. Prussia was...dead? Just like that? He had promised him that he would return him safely to his friends and family. Prussia was...his best friend. And he was gone: and it was his fault. Tears blurred the Doctor's vision.

"He's gone..." he whispered.

"Doctor, I'm sorry..." Von Statten tried, but was given a harsh glare in return, and fell silent.

"You should have had that thing destroyed while you still had the chance! My best friend is DEAD because of ME! I promised him I would return him home, alive and well!" the Doctor was about to continue, but a buzz on the monitor drew his attention.

There, on the screen, sat the Dalek: it must have hacked into the system. The Doctor was surprised to see a very startled looking Prussia standing next to it, looking confused as to why he was still alive. A confusion the Doctor shared.

"YOU WILL OPEN THE GATE! DO IT, OR ALLOW YOUR FRIEND TO BE EXTERMINATED!" the Dalek cried out.

"And what do you plan to do when you get out? There aren't any Daleks out there to help you! You know it's true! Go ahead, look through all of Earth's records and tell me what you find!" the enraged Time Lord yelled angrily.

The Dalek sat in complete silence for a minute before responding.

"NOTHING. I AM ALONE. IN THAT WAY, WE ARE THE SAME." the Dalek droned, almost sadly.

The Doctor grit his teeth angrily.

"We are _nothing _alike! What good are you, Dalek? You're just a soldier without orders! Why don't you just DIE!?" the Doctor shouted hatefully, kicking the floor in his anger.

The Dalek seemed to look at him for a moment before cutting the connection with the monitor. Prussia watched it for a moment before daring to speak.

"Vhy don't you just kill me?" he asked tentatively.

The Dalek turned its dome to stare at him.

"I DO NOT KNOW. I AM FEELING THINGS I AM NOT MEANT TO FEEL. WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME? REPORT! REPORT!" it yelled back at him, sounding afraid.

Prussia stood in front of it, looking concerned.

"Vhat is it zat you _really _vant, Dalek?" he asked quietly, hoping to take advantage of the creature's confusion.

"I WANT...FREEDOM..."

The Doctor burst into the room where Adam worked on the things Von Statten gave him, his heart twinging a bit as he realized that the cry of "EXTERMINATE!" he had heard over the phone had been when the Dalek killed the poor boy. He began digging through the box of gun-looking things in the corner, his eyebrows knit. The Doctor despised guns and violence, but this was a special case. This was a Dalek.

"Broken...broken...hair dryer...broken...ahh! Here we go!" the Doctor heaved a rather impressive gun out of the box and looked it over.

A sad smile graced his thin lips as he motioned for Von Statten to open the gate. He was going to find and destroy that Dalek, and save his friend. He gave a determined grunt and began running toward the stairs. It was a long run to the 40th floor.

Prussia walked beside the Dalek as it rolled to what looked like a thin section of roofing. It looked it over carefully before firing its laser at it, blasting the metal away. Sunlight filtered in from a tunnel above. It was apparently some kind of air shaft. The Dalek rolled forward into the beam of light, and Prussia followed to stand beside it. It was warm, and he relaxed a bit despite the situation he was in. The Dalek seemed to notice.

"HOW DOES IT FEEL?" it asked, sounding as if it generally didn't understand feelings at all.

"It feels...varm. Zere you go, Dalek. You are free." Prussia smiled down at it.

"I AM...HAPPY. I WANT TO FEEL THE SUNLIGHT."

Prussia took a few steps back as the armor began to open with a low hiss. He watched curiously as the metal panels in its front slid apart to expose the creature within. He was startled to see that it looked much like a soft grey squid. It had two bulbous yellow eyes, and several long tentacles reached up to be warmed by the light.

"IT FEELS WARM." the Dalek droned, a gentle light in its eyes.

"Step aside, Prussia! I'm going to end this!"

Prussia turned to see the Doctor glaring at him, pointing a very impressive gun at him and motioning for him to move.

"Nein, Doctor. It's okay. Ze Dalek von't hurt anyone." he plead softly.

"I said move! I'm going to end it! The last Dalek, gone! The real end to the Time War!"

Prussia suddenly understood the hatred in the Doctor's deep brown eyes. The Daleks were the enemy he had fought in the last Time War. They had killed other Time Lords, possible friends and family. He understood the man's rage, but this was different.

"Nein. Doctor, it's changing." he stepped aside so the Doctor could see the Dalek reaching out for the light.

"What...what is it doing?" he asked in confusion.

"It just wants to be free..." Prussia explained softly.

The Doctor dropped the gun and stared at the creature, trying to understand what had elicited such a change.

"Prussia...how did the Dalek repair itself?" he asked softly.

"I touched it. Adam said it used mein DNA."

The Doctor sighed.

"I see. Your DNA didn't just repair it. It's making it evolve into a whole new species."

"Isn't zat a good zing?"

"Not for a Dalek. They see every other life form as being inferior, and as something that has to be destroyed. A Dalek that has been tainted with human DNA would be considered impure. It would have to die." the Doctor explained sadly.

"I AM...IMPURE? THEN I MUST BE EXTERMINATED! ORDER ME TO DIE!" the Dalek cried, closing its armor back up.

Prussia looked at it sadly, his red eyes tearing up.

"but..."

"OBEY! OBEY!"

Prussia sighed and nodded at it.

"Do it, zen."

The Dalek hovered slowly into the air, and the two men took several steps back. The bronze dome-like structures that were all over its side came off and formed a sphere around it. There was a low whoosh and a flash of light, and the Dalek had disintegrated. All that remained was a small pile of ash.

Prussia sighed and looked back at the Doctor, relieved and exhausted.

"Zat vas awful." he muttered after a moment.

The Doctor nodded and slung an arm over the county's shoulder.

"Yeah, it was. Come on. Let's go. Maybe we can find a planet to visit that will cheer you up. How about the planet Midnight? It's made of diamonds! Or Barcelona! Not the city, the planet! There are dogs there with no noses!"

**Sorry that took so long to write, but I've been really busy lately! Hopefully I can get more stuff out, faster. I hope you liked this! More soon! Allons-y~!**

**~Silver **


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